Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the country won't withdraw from seized Lebanese territory despite the tentative agreement to end the war reached by the U.S. and Iran.
Speaking to press after the deal was announced, Katz also warned that if Iran attacks Israel in retaliation for strikes in Lebanon, it will respond "with full force" and won't relent on its goal "despite all the existing pressures and those that will still come."
David Mencer, spokesman in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, said the country and the U.S. remain fully aligned on the goal to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, but noted that Israel won't tolerate attacks from Hezbollah on its territory. The country has not been involved in negotiations to end hostilities in the region.
Iran repeatedly threatened to walk out of conversations with the U.S. as a result of Israeli strikes in Lebanon, where it is fighting Hezbollah. U.S. President Donald Trump lashed out at Netanyahu on Sunday after new strikes as he sought to close the deal with Tehran. Different reports have claimed that the agreement between the U.S. and Iran includes a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
Trump announced the deal on Sunday. A formal agreement will be signed in Switzerland this week, according to Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
"This Great Deal will bring Peace and Security to the whole Region. Many presidents have tried to make Peace with Iran, and all have failed before me. The Leaders of the Region have, for the first time, found a President who can help them achieve real Peace. With the opening of the Strait upon the signing of the Deal on Friday, for purposes of mine removal, oil will flow on both ends again for the Region, and the World!" Trump said in a social media post on Sunday.
The AP noted that details of the deal have not been released yet. Until then, and given Trump's wording in the mentioned post, traffic through the Hormuz Strait will likely remain limited. Iran's deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, said the the country won't begin implementing the deal until it is signed.
Officials from both Iran and the U.S. will hold preparatory meetings in Qatar this week before the signing, the outlet added, quoting an anonymous source familiar with the details.
