Israel's Katz says army will stay in southern Lebanon until Hezbollah is disarmed

Update, 5:58pm GMT Wednesday: The Lebanese army rejected the Israeli accusations as false in a statement on Tuesday evening, Ynet reported. It said its units had worked at the military facility in Kafra from December 2025 until 16 March, left at the request of the ceasefire monitoring mechanism after Israeli threats to strike the site, resumed on 16 August and closed the facility on 16 October. It said the video of a truck strike released by the Israeli military was recorded on 3 July near Tyre and was unrelated. Military delegations from Israel, Lebanon and the US began three days of talks on Tuesday at US Central Command headquarters in Tampa, Florida, due to run until Thursday, Ynet reported. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said the Lebanese delegation would present “Lebanon’s demands for an end to Israeli escalation”. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said of the two pilot zones: “Go in and clear them. Can you do it? Good. Can’t you? We’ll take care of it.”

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday 20 October that the Israeli army “will not move out of the security zone” in southern Lebanon “as long as Hezbollah has not been disarmed throughout Lebanon”, in a social media post reported by CBS News.

Katz said any drone or missile launched towards communities in northern Israel “will be met with a powerful response against the Dahiyeh district in Beirut”, an area where Hezbollah has a strong presence.

He said the army was prepared to carry out a ground operation into further areas around Nabatieh and the Litani River if Hezbollah joined an Iranian attack on Israel, and that any territory captured would become “permanently” part of Israel’s security zone, CBS News reported. Israel currently holds about 700 square kilometres in southern Lebanon, according to CBS News.

Also on Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces accused the Lebanese army of helping Hezbollah prepare to move weapons out of an area in the south, citing a site in Kfarra. CBS News reported no immediate response from the Lebanese army.

Background: A November 2024 ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon called on the Lebanese army to act against Hezbollah weapons in the south. A US-backed plan to hand “pilot zones” back to Lebanese forces began in July 2026, with little reported progress since, according to CBS News. Hezbollah is backed by Iran.

See also: Hegseth discussed Iran with Netanyahu during unannounced visit to Israel.