US orders Israel to keep its word on Lebanon – Axios

Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has vowed to defy Washington and maintain its occupation of Lebanese territory The US State Department reportedly ordered Israel to stick to its word and pull its troops out of Lebanon after Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said his forces were “here to stay” in the south of the country.Under a US-brokered framework signed on June 26, Israel agreed to leave the territory it currently occupies in Southern Lebanon in exchange for the Lebanese government disarming Hezbollah and establishing its own military as the sole armed group in Lebanon. During a visit to the occupied territory on Wednesday, Katz declared that “the IDF is here to stay in the security zones in Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza.”“The United States expects all parties to act in accordance with the framework agreement they have agreed upon, and Israel has clearly stated that it has no territorial aspirations in Lebanon,” a State Department official told Barak Ravid – an Axios reporter whom Israeli politicians and security officials regularly leak to – on Wednesday.🇺🇸🇮🇱🇱🇧The Trump administration criticized Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz's remarks about maintaining Israel's occupation o...