TEHRAN – Netanyahu reportedly has no plans to withdraw occupation forces from southern Lebanon in the foreseeable future, as aggression against towns and villages across the region continues.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Netanyahu made the remarks to mayors and local authority heads in northern settlements. During his statement, Netanyahu also revealed that the occupation military intends to destroy what he described as a “fortress deep inside Lebanon”, a reference to Beaufort Castle. 

Haaretz further reported: “Once Iran threatened at the start of the week to attack Israel in response to the expansion of military operations in southern Lebanon, Trump decided to rein in Netanyahu so as not to undermine his efforts to achieve a long-term settlement in the Persian Gulf.”

The newspaper also revealed emerging sharp disagreements emerging between the regime’s political and military leadership. The General Staff is reportedly frustrated by the government’s unwillingness to reach stable arrangements based on political understandings in any arena. 

For Netanyahu, the fires of war must always remain burning, preferably on more than one front. In this way, renewed discussion of the questions that should stand at the center of the election campaign can be avoided, namely responsibility for the failures that led to the October 7 attack and the consequences of the unprovoked wars on various fronts since then.

The Zionist regime continues to wage aggression in southern Lebanon, despite the U.S. announcing yet another “ceasefire agreement” following more direct talks between Lebanese and Israeli diplomats. 

Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem has called on Lebanese officials to put an end to “the humiliation and farce of direct negotiations”, arguing that Washington’s “ceasefire” proposal is intended to destabilize Lebanon and create internal divisions.

Sheikh Qassem stated that America’s announcement following direct negotiations between Lebanon and the Zionist regime outlines the principles that the U.S. and Israel envision for Lebanon’s submission to the “Greater Israel” project.

He emphasized that the proposal aims to destabilize Lebanon, undermine its security, and create divisions among Lebanese citizens for Israel’s benefit. According to Qassem, it represents a roadmap for the destruction of part of the Lebanese population and the subjugation of the rest.

“Making the disarmament of the resistance the starting point for any agreement means eliminating Lebanon’s strength and creating an existential threat to its people,” he underscored.

Sheikh Qassem pointed out that the Zionist regime seeks to achieve through politics what it failed to achieve through war, insisting that “this will not happen.” He underlined that the current security track, conducted under an illusory ceasefire, effectively requires Hezbollah to stop retaliatory attacks and accept ongoing aggression against civilians. He characterized such an outcome as surrender, defeat, and the fulfillment of the enemy’s objectives.

The Hezbollah chief emphasized that any ceasefire must apply to all of Lebanon and must not grant the IOF freedom to carry out attacks inside Lebanese territory.

“As long as the occupation remains,” he said, “the resistance will continue. As long as the aggression continues, we will confront it with all the strength at our disposal and strike where we choose and where we are able.” He added that as long as Lebanese villages remain unsafe, are bombed, destroyed, and their residents killed, northern settlements will not enjoy security.

Qassem also stressed that Hezbollah has never pledged to refrain from resisting aggression or responding to attacks, calling for Lebanese sovereignty to remain the central objective.

He stated that this can only be achieved through a complete end to IOF attacks from land, air, and sea, the withdrawal of the IOF from Lebanon, the deployment of the Lebanese Army south of the Litani River, the release of prisoners, the return of displaced residents to their villages, and reconstruction efforts.

The Hezbollah leader held Lebanese authorities responsible for fulfilling their duties and addressing the internal divisions, which resulted from political choices that do not reflect a national consensus or the principles of the constitution and coexistence.

Hezbollah has conducted a series of operations against Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) assets and personnel. Resistance forces confronted Hermes 450 (Zik) drones in several locations, including Nabatieh city, Al-Hujayr Valley, the western sector of southern Lebanon, and the skies over Kfar Melki–Jbaa, forcing the drones to leave using appropriate weapons, including a surface-to-air missile. 

Fighters from the resistance movement also targeted gatherings of IOF vehicles and soldiers in several towns, including Yohmor Al-Shaqif, Rashaf, Al-Qantara, and Hadathaa, using loitering drone swarms, rocket barrages, and artillery shells. Specific targets included a command deployment near Beaufort Castle (historic Al-Shaqif Castle), a newly established logistical support center near Yohmor Al-Shaqif, and the newly established Nemer Al-Jamal and Al-Oweida Hill sites.

Multiple Merkava tanks belonging to the IOF were destroyed near Beaufort Castle using guided missiles and Ababil loitering gliders (FPV). A moving IOF force in Al-Khiam city was targeted with rocket barrages in two volleys. IOF forces attempting to advance toward the eastern outskirts of Al-Ghandouriyah were ambushed; upon the force’s arrival at the ambush point, the resistance fighters detonated a number of explosive devices (IEDs) against the advancing force, causing confirmed casualties among its members. The IOF subsequently evacuated its casualties under heavy smoke cover before targeting the surrounding area with airstrikes and artillery shelling.

In addition, Hezbollah carried out multiple coordinated strikes in the vicinity of Beaufort Castle, including artillery shelling in three separate volleys, heavy rocket barrages, and qualitative rocket barrages targeting vehicle and soldier gatherings. The operations also involved targeting a Merkava tank at a separate time with a guided missile, leading to its destruction, as well as striking two Merkava tanks simultaneously with two Ababil loitering gliders, achieving confirmed hits. 

Other operations included targeting a gathering of IOF soldiers on the outskirts of Al-Hujayr Valley with a rocket salvo, and striking equipment and soldier gatherings at the Balu’ah area on the outskirts of Hadathaa with artillery shells.

Earlier, the IOF announced the deaths of two more soldiers and confirmed that ten others had been injured.

Meanwhile, the Lebanese resistance movement has dismissed claims by the Zionist regime that it attacked a UNIFIL post in the town of Debbine and caused the death of one of its soldiers as “baseless and a complete fabrication.”

Hezbollah said that the occupying regime continues to manufacture false narratives and fabricate accusations against resistance forces as part of a systematic campaign of misinformation designed to conceal its ongoing crimes, which “have become visible to the entire world.”

In a statement, it noted that the accusation comes from the same Israeli authorities that have never hidden their discomfort with the presence of international forces in southern Lebanon and have consistently sought to limit their role, because they serve as witnesses to IOF violations, attacks, and breaches of Lebanese sovereignty.

Hezbollah stressed that it remains committed to supporting the role of UNIFIL in southern Lebanon within the framework of the duties assigned to the force under international resolutions. The resistance movement also extended its condolences to the UNIFIL leadership and to the family of the deceased soldier, while wishing a speedy recovery to those who were injured.

On Thursday, UNIFIL announced that one of its peacekeepers had died from severe wounds sustained in southern Lebanon. The IOF has killed UNIFIL personnel and targeted its positions on a record number of occasions since the onset of the aggression on Lebanon in 2024.