12 June 2026
Israel ‘will not withdraw from Lebanon, Syria, Gaza’- Minister
Regardless of what is agreed to in any peace deal signed by the United States and Iran, Israel will not withdraw from any occupied territories during the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and will continue to counter any efforts by Iran to acquire nuclear weapons, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Friday.
“Our security doctrine is sharp and clear: We act against threats both near and far and strive for decisive results rather than compromises and concessions,” Katz wrote on social media. He stressed that the Israeli military (IDF) “will not withdraw from security zones in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza.”
Katz said this policy is “a central lesson from the events of October 7 [2023]”- When Hamas terrorists carried out attacks in Israel that killed more than 1,000 people and took 251 others hostage.
Israeli counter-attacks on Gaza killed more than 70,000 Palestinians and destroyed much of the occupied territory’s infrastructure, while the latter led to conflict with Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon and with Iran itself, with Israel supported by the United States on the latter front.
Katz wrote, “Together, we have dealt a serious blow to Iran, setting its capabilities back several years” — even as Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) continues to target U.S. military bases across the Gulf, and indeed Israel itself.
US President Donald Trump has claimed that Washington and Tehran are close to signing a peace deal, an agreement to which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel is not a party, but Defense Secretary Katz claims it takes into account a “shared interest” with Israel: preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
“we expect [President Trump] To maintain this principle [as well as] Additional doctrines in the area of missiles and terrorist proxies,” Katz wrote, referring to Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.