Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened senior defense officials on Sunday to finalize plans for a phased withdrawal from two villages in southern Lebanon, as US-mediated talks between Israeli and Lebanese military officers opened in an effort to define a Hezbollah-free zone ahead of the redeployment. The consultations came as Netanyahu reaffirmed that Israeli troops would remain in southern Lebanon “for as long as necessary,” while insisting that Christian villages in the area had asked to be annexed by Israel for protection against Hezbollah—a claim immediately denied by local leaders.

Speaking to Fox News’s *The Sunday Briefing* on 5 July, Netanyahu stated that “some Christian villages in Lebanon, some of them have actually asked to be annexed to Israel, because we protect them against the Hezbollah, Hezbollah fanatics who want to kill them.” The prime minister added that Israel extends the same protection to Christians elsewhere. However, Hanna al-Amil, mayor of the Christian village of Rmeish, told Lebanon’s NNA broadcaster that the claim was “absolutely out of the question.” He noted that 15 Christian towns had issued a joint statement two days earlier rejecting the allegations and reaffirming their “loyalty to their national identity” and attachment to the Lebanese flag. Since the war began on 2 March—triggered by Hezbollah rocket fire in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader in joint US-Israeli strikes—southern Lebanon has endured Israeli airstrikes, ground incursions, and evacuation orders. Despite the damage, most villages have remained inhabited, with residents refusing to leave their homes, churches, and farmland.

On 6 July, Israel’s public broadcaster KAN reported that Israeli and Lebanese officers had opened US-mediated negotiations to establish clear criteria for a Hezbollah-free zone before Israel begins a trial withdrawal from the two villages. The contacts aim to prevent misunderstandings that could hinder implementation, particularly after earlier disputes over defining such zones. An unnamed Israeli official told KAN that Israel has not yet started withdrawing and that the move is expected to begin “in the coming weeks” if arrangements are completed. Under a US-mediated framework agreement signed on 26 June, Israel agreed to a gradual withdrawal, with further redeployments contingent on the Lebanese army assuming full security responsibility and the disarmament of non-state armed groups, a reference to Hezbollah.

The planned withdrawal follows a week in which Netanyahu also dismissed reports that the US had restricted Israeli military operations in Lebanon, calling them “fake news.” He reiterated that there would be no reconstruction in Gaza until Hamas is fully disarmed, diverging from President Trump’s sequencing plan. Meanwhile, Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, visiting the occupied Beaufort Castle in southern Lebanon, threatened a “swift offensive” in case of any ceasefire violation and urged the Lebanese army to disarm Hezbollah fighters.

The developments unfold against a backdrop of escalating regional tensions. On 6 July, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian criticized international institutions for failing to prevent Israeli aggression while providing political support to Tel Aviv, speaking at a Tehran conference commemorating former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the US-Israeli strikes earlier this year. In Europe, Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin condemned what he described as “shocking atrocities,” particularly against children, women, and innocent civilians, and called for new EU sanctions against Israel ahead of next week’s foreign ministers’ meeting in Luxembourg. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also signaled forthcoming proposals, citing Israel’s expanded settlements in the West Bank as “utterly unacceptable” and warning that they undermine the viability of a two-state solution.

In Israel, former General Gadi Eisenkot has emerged as Netanyahu’s chief rival ahead of upcoming elections, challenging the prime minister’s bid to survive as the country’s longest-serving leader. The political landscape is further complicated by Netanyahu’s government’s decision to defy a Supreme Court ruling on media regulation, raising fears of a constitutional crisis over judicial independence.

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Articles

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