The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, declared, on Friday (June 26, 2026), that he will allow the Lebanese Army to gradually take control of two “pilot-zones” in southern Lebanon. He stated, however, that Israeli soldiers will remain in the country until Hezbollah is disarmed.
One of the areas is south of the Litani River. The other is north of the watercourse. According to Netanyahu, none of the liberated locations are part of the strips of territory initially controlled by the Israel Defense Forces and, therefore, do not indicate a withdrawal of troops.
“We continually maintain the original security zone, out of range of anti-tank missiles. We do not allow Hezbollah to enter there, nor the population [civil]. The additional issue is, of course, that we are allowing the Lebanese army to begin organizing to seize territory”, said Netanyahu.
According to the prime minister, remaining represents a loss for Iran. “Iran is trying to force us into a forced withdrawal from southern Lebanon. And in practice, Israel, Lebanon and the United States are telling them: this is none of your business. You have no role in Lebanon”, he declared in a video, after the signing of a trilateral peace agreement between Israel, Lebanon and the United States.
TRILATERAL AGREEMENT
Israel, Lebanon and the United States signed an agreement to restore stability in the Middle East. The announcement came from the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio. The full text was not released.
According to Rubio, the agreement defines a process to restore Lebanon’s sovereignty, disarm Hezbollah and dismantle its infrastructure in the region, allowing Israel to return to its borders once the threat to its citizens is eliminated.
The pact also creates a Trilateral Military Coordination Group for Lebanon. “For Lebanon, this framework offers a genuine path out of a long crisis. For Israel, it creates a verifiable path to eliminate the persistent threat on its northern border”, informed the secretary in to the press
