Close
MyNorthwest
News
Opinion
Sports
Tools
Connect

POLITICS

Defense minister says Israel won’t withdraw from land seized in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza

Jun 15, 2026, 12:13 AM | Updated: 1:28 pm

A rescue worker checks an apartment that was hit in an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's south...

A rescue worker checks an apartment that was hit in an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Sunday, June 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Credit: AP Photo/Bilal Hussein

(AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Associated Press's Profile Picture

BY ASSOCIATED PRESS


TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel’s defense minister said Monday that Israel won’t withdraw from land seized in Lebanon as the interim deal between Iran and the United States is pending.

Israel Katz’s remarks were the first official Israeli comments after the announcement of the interim deal. The two sides plan to meet Friday in Geneva to sign it, Pakistan has said.

Katz said Israel plans to stay “indefinitely” in lands it holds in Lebanon, as well as Syria and the Gaza Strip. Iran has tied the interim deal over the war to halting Israel’s attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Katz also threatened that if Iran attacks Israel over Israeli strikes in Lebanon, Israel will strike Iran with “great force.”

Over the past two and a half years, Israel has taken control of areas in Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria amounting to 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) of territory — an area that is slightly smaller than New York City.

Please follow our Community Guidelines

Politics

California Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton speaks during a campaign event on Wednes...

Associated Press

Republican Hilton tells Californians they can hate Trump but still vote for him in governor’s race

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Republican Steve Hilton launched his general election campaign for California governor Wednesday with a gambit to win over left-leaning voters who dominate the state: Even if they loathe President Donald Trump, he said, they should consider voting for him. During an event in Los Angeles, against the backdrop of a stinking, […]

2 hours ago

Associated Press

Passengers in Texas ICE shooting say officers not in danger, driver was parking when shots fired

HOUSTON (AP) — The immigration officer who shot and killed 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston was not in danger of being run over, two passengers in his van told a federal court this week. The Department of Homeland Security said shortly after the July 7 shooting that Salgado Araujo had “weaponized his vehicle in […]

2 hours ago

Reporters raise their hands as Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin speaks in the Indian Tr...

Associated Press

Democrats press ICE on oversight, say 1 officer referred for discipline over use of force

WASHINGTON (AP) — One Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer has been referred for discipline over a use of force incident since the beginning of the Trump administration, said Democratic members of the House Homeland Security Committee after a briefing with ICE officials Wednesday about body cameras, vehicle stops and training. The closed-door briefing for committee […]

3 hours ago

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth testifies at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, Tuesday, Jul...

Associated Press

Judge questions difference between Hegseth’s testosterone policy and transgender care for troops

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s new initiative to test and treat troops for low testosterone has prompted a federal judge to question the differences between that kind of testosterone replacement therapy and hormone treatment for transgender men in the military. U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes in Washington raised the question Wednesday in an […]

3 hours ago

FILE - Former CIA Director R. James Woolsey speaks during a luncheon at the Oklahoma Governor's Con...

Associated Press

R. James Woolsey, CIA director during the Clinton administration, dies at 84

WASHINGTON (AP) — R. James Woolsey, a national security expert who led the CIA for two turbulent years after his appointment by President Bill Clinton, has died. He was 84. Woolsey, who became CIA director in early 1993, died Tuesday at his home in Washington, according to several newspapers. His wife, Conchita Sarnoff Woolsey, told […]

3 hours ago

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and President Donald Trump attend the dignified transfer of four U.S...

Associated Press

Republicans in Congress continue to back Iran war despite the political risk

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans on Capitol Hill are walking a cautious election-year line on the Iran war as the future of the conflict seems increasingly uncertain and polls show most Americans think the war isn’t worth fighting. The potential political peril has only grown in recent days, particularly for Republicans facing reelection in November. But […]

3 hours ago

Defense minister says Israel won’t withdraw from land seized in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza