Israel military says will keep operating in south Lebanon

The Israeli military declared on Thursday its intention to persist with operations in southern Lebanon, aiming to "remove threats" extending beyond its self-declared security zone. This assertion comes in the wake of a significant agreement between the United States and Iran to cease hostilities across the Middle East, including Lebanon.

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The military said troops would continue to be deployed there "to remove threats and strengthen the defense of Israel's northern residents".

The military published a map delineating its "security zone," which extends approximately 10 kilometers into Lebanese territory. Troops are slated to remain deployed within this zone to bolster the defense of northern Israeli residents. An Israeli military official further elaborated that the army "will continue to remove threats to IDF soldiers and the civilians of the State of Israel that are identified beyond the security zone."

The announcement occurred shortly after the U.S. and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding intended to halt the Middle East war. Hours after this agreement, Lebanese state media reported that one person had been killed in an Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon. Concurrently, the Israeli military confirmed the death of one of its soldiers the previous night during an incident in the same region, which also resulted in seven other troops being wounded.

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The army "will continue to remove threats to IDF soldiers and the civilians of the State of Israel that are identified beyond the security zone".

An Israeli military official urged the Lebanese Armed Forces to coordinate with Israeli forces and advised Lebanese civilians to steer clear of the security zone. While violence in Lebanon has notably decreased since the U.S. and Iran announced their agreement, Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group, had drawn Lebanon into the wider conflict in March. Lebanon and Israel have been engaged in direct talks in Washington since April to negotiate an end to their hostilities and disentangle their conflict from the broader regional war, with further discussions planned for next week.

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Further steps are still being discussed within the framework of direct negotiations between Israel and Lebanon.