Israel demarcates expanded Lebanon occupation zone, challenging US-Iran pact

By Rami Ayyub, Pesha Magid and Alexander Cornwell

JERUSALEM, June 18 (Reuters) – Israel published a map on Thursday showing an expanded military control zone in southern Lebanon and said it would not rule out carrying out attacks beyond it, challenging the terms of a U.S.-Iran pact that calls for Lebanon’s sovereignty to be respected.

A senior Israeli official said Israel was holding “stubborn negotiations” with U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration over keeping its troops deployed 10 km (6.2 miles) into southern Lebanon as it pursues the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia.

An interim pact signed on Wednesday to end the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran calls for an end to fighting on all fronts, including in Lebanon, and for parties to ensure “the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Lebanon.”

Israel has rejected calls to withdraw troops from southern Lebanon, which it invaded in March in response to rocket fire by Hezbollah. Israeli attacks and the destruction of villages have killed thousands and set off a displacement crisis.

Hezbollah has continued to launch attacks on Israeli positions in the south this week, including with explosive drones that have killed and injured troops.

The military, which in April published a map marking its so-called buffer zone in southern Lebanon, released a new map that shows its troops are operating several kilometres deeper into the country, including near the Hezbollah stronghold of Nabatieh north of the Litani River.

Israeli troops have been operating in some of those areas for several weeks, but the military had not yet published a map showing the expanded zone of control, which it marked in dark red in the map published on Thursday.

An Israeli military official said the military “will continue to remove threats (to) soldiers and the civilians of the State of Israel that are identified beyond the security zone,” in effect saying it could carry out attacks deeper into Lebanon.

In a televised speech on Wednesday, Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem rejected the notion of Israeli security zones in Lebanese territory.

“No yellow zones, no red zones, and no green zones. Israel must leave, and it will leave,” he said.

IRAN DEAL HAS EXPOSED TENSIONS BETWEEN NETANYAHU, TRUMP

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump have repeatedly clashed in recent weeks as the U.S. president sought to extricate himself from the war against Iran he jointly launched with his longtime Israeli ally.

Israeli officials have voiced anger with the U.S.-Iran pact, which the two signed on Wednesday, saying it didn’t go far enough to address Israeli concerns over Iran’s nuclear program and would tie down their military operations in Lebanon.

In his first comments since the pact’s signing, Netanyahu said Israel appreciated its relationship with the U.S. but that it needed to maintain security for people living in northern Israeli towns that came under Hezbollah rocket fire during the war.

“This requires maintaining the security strip in southern Lebanon, it requires that we not leave there as long as Israel’s security needs require it,” Netanyahu said.

Trump has made no secret of his frustration with Netanyahu and has criticized Israel’s military actions in Lebanon, saying it was unnecessary to bomb entire apartment buildings to hunt Hezbollah militants.

But there has been no indication that Trump’s commentary will translate into concrete actions — such as withholding military aid or slowing arms shipments — that could force Israel to rethink its military tactics.

ISRAEL, LEBANON HOLDING NEGOTIATIONS IN WASHINGTON

Israel describes the territory it has seized in Lebanon, Gaza and Syria as “buffer zones” between it and its enemies, a core facet of Israel’s recent security policy.

Danny Citrinowicz, a retired Israeli military intelligence officer and senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies think tank in Tel Aviv, said the timing of the new Lebanon map published by the military was significant.

By demarcating its zone of control, Israel is saying “we’re going to stay here, this is our place, we’re not going to withdraw from here,” Citrinowicz said.

The map’s release also comes ahead of a round of U.S.-mediated Israel-Lebanon talks, scheduled for next week in Washington.

Israeli officials, speaking anonymously, say Israel has held out the possibility of withdrawing from the south if talks with Lebanon progress. Israel is seeking Hezbollah’s disarmament from those talks, while Lebanon has sought Israel’s withdrawal.

Jonathan Rynhold, a senior researcher at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University, said the U.S.-Iran pact appeared to leave Israel some “wiggle room” given Hezbollah, a non-state actor, holds sway and power in the country.

“(It) implies that Hezbollah should not be able to hold weapons because that is a threat to the sovereignty of the government of Lebanon,” Rynhold said.

(Reporting by Pesha Magid, Rami Ayyub, Alexander Cornwell and Jana Choukeir; Editing by Aidan Lewis)