Israel tells Pentagon chief it will keep troops in Lebanon, Syria, Gaza ‘security zones’

JERUSALEM - Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz told his US counterpart Pete Hegseth early on July 16 that Israel is determined to keep its forces in “security zones” it has carved out inside Lebanon, Syria and the Gaza Strip.

In a statement, Katz’s office said the two men spoke overnight and the minister “emphasised Israel’s determination to remain in the security zones in Syria, Gaza, and Lebanon in order to protect Israel’s borders and the communities near the border from the threats posed by jihadist forces”.

“We have never asked the United States to act in our place along our borders,” Katz said.

His comments come days after US President Donald Trump asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pull Israeli forces out of Syria and Lebanon, according to US news outlet Axios.

Citing a US official, Axios reported that Trump told Netanyahu the Israeli deployment was fuelling tensions in Syria.

“They don’t want you there. You should redeploy,” Trump told him, according to Axios.

After the December 2024 overthrow of Syria’s longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, Israel sent troops into a UN-patrolled buffer zone that separated Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights.

Israel has also carried out repeated incursions into Syrian territory since then, as well as bombings, and has said it wants a demilitarised zone in the country’s south.

In Lebanon, Israeli forces remain deployed in what the military describes as a security zone extending roughly 10km into Lebanese territory.

Lebanon and Israel, which have no formal relations, are engaged in talks to end hostilities after militant group Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the broader Middle East war by attacking Israel in March.

The two countries concluded their fifth round of talks in Rome on July 15.

The US-brokered negotiations are aimed at having Israeli forces steadily withdraw from Lebanon, starting with two “pilot zones” located outside the “security zone” that Israel has established in the south.

In Gaza, Israel’s military controls 60 per cent of the territory and is present on the entire outside perimeter along the borders with Israel and Egypt. AFP