Updated

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz declared on 13 September 2026 that Israeli forces would not withdraw from a Hezbollah stronghold area they hold in southern Lebanon, according to Haaretz's live coverage of the day. The statement reaffirmed Israel's position that it will keep troops at strategic points along the border despite Lebanese and international demands for a full pullback under the terms of the 2024 ceasefire understandings. Katz framed the continued presence as necessary to prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding infrastructure near the frontier and threatening northern Israeli communities. The declaration matters because the disputed Israeli positions in southern Lebanon remain one of the central obstacles to stabilising the Israel-Lebanon front and to the Lebanese government's efforts to assert state control over the south. Hezbollah has repeatedly cited the Israeli presence as justification for refusing to disarm, while Beirut has appealed to the ceasefire's international guarantors. Katz's comments signalled no near-term change in Israeli deployment, keeping the risk of renewed escalation along the border in place.