Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz told US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth in a call on Thursday that Israel won’t withdraw from Gaza, Syria, or Lebanon, according to a statement from the Israeli minister’s office.
According to The Jerusalem Post, Katz “emphasized Israel’s determination to remain in security zones in Syria, Gaza, and Lebanon to protect Israel’s borders and nearby communities from ‘threats posed by jihadist forces.'”
Katz added that Israel has “never asked the US to act in our place along our borders. We are committed to protecting the residents of Israel from every threat, and that is what we intend to do.”
The conversation came a few days after Katz said that Israel won’t leave Gaza even if Hamas disarms and that it would establish three “Nahala outposts,” a type of Jewish settlement that starts as a community for IDF soldiers with the goal of turning it into a permanent civilian community.
Axios recently reported that President Trump had asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to start “redeploying” forces from parts of Syria and Lebanon, though there’s no sign the US is concerned about Israel’s expanding occupation and continued attacks in Gaza despite the operations being a blatant violation of the US-backed ceasefire deal.
After the Trump-Netanyahu call, Netanyahu’s office said that the Israeli leader “raised the need for security zones along Israel’s borders,” and there’s no sign that Israel is planning to pull back or that the US is putting real pressure on Israel to do so. The Axios report noted that senior Israeli ministers want to establish settlements in southern Lebanon and southwest Syria.
In their call on Thursday, Katz and Hegseth also discussed Iran as the war between the US and the Islamic Republic continues to rage. So far, there’s no sign that Israel has joined in on the US attacks, though Katz and other Israeli officials have repeatedly stated that the IDF is ready to do so.
