Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated on Thursday that Israel "will not give up" the five positions deemed "strategic" it occupies in Lebanon, in a video posted on his X account.
"We maintain five checkpoints on the Lebanese side of the border to protect our territory," Netanyahu said, adding: "We will not relinquish control" of the five sites in Lebanese territory. "Last week, we killed five Hezbollah members for violating the cease-fire agreement we seek to implement firmly," he added.
A cease-fire came into effect on Nov. 27, 2024, to end the war between Israel and Hezbollah that had lasted since Oct. 8, 2023, and intensified in September. The agreement notably stipulates the gradual Israeli withdrawal from villages occupied in southern Lebanon, so the Lebanese Army can deploy in areas formerly under Hezbollah's influence.
However, the Israeli army still occupies five "positions" in southern Lebanon: Labbouneh/Alma Shaab, in the district of Sour, Jabal Blat, near Ramiyyeh, in Bint Jbeil, Jal al-Deir, south of Aitaroun (Bint Jbeil), a position along the Markaba-Houla road in Marjayoun and Hamames Hill, near Khiam, also in Marjayoun.
Netanyahu also used his speech to criticize Yair Lapid, the Israeli opposition leader and centrist who oversaw a historic agreement in 2022 with Lebanon as foreign minister. "Lapid was defeated by Hezbollah and ceded land to it," Netanyahu said.
Earlier in the day, Lapid said in an interview with Israeli media that the same politicians who criticized the agreement delineating maritime borders and coastal rights were now negotiating a far more significant pact, calling these apparent contradictions "comical." On Tuesday, the prime minister's office announced that discussions with Lebanon had been launched through three "working groups" on land borders.
Netanyahu also indicated that the army attacked "a headquarters of Islamic Jihad in the heart of Damascus" during the day, asserting that "our offensive policy is not limited to Syria but also extends to Lebanon." Islamic Jihad, like the Hamas movement, is considered a "terrorist" organization by Israel, the United States and the European Union. A fragile truce has been in effect since Jan. 19 in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas after more than 15 months of a deadly war triggered by the Palestinian Islamist movement's attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.