The Israeli army will maintain its presence in the security zone in South Lebanon, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said today, quoted by DPA, BTA reports.
The Israeli army "will continue to act decisively to neutralize threats against our soldiers and our citizens, destroy the infrastructure of terrorists and preserve the security zone in South Lebanon", Netanyahu said in a statement on the social network "Ex". This is a joint statement by Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz and Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army Eyal Zamir. The three senior officials made the statement after a meeting with the head of the Northern Command of the Israeli forces.
It was reported that the Israeli forces will continue to operate in Lebanon, guided by the principle of "uncompromising" protection of the security of Israeli citizens and soldiers.
Earlier, information appeared in the media that the US government would try to limit the freedom of action of Israeli units in Lebanon after reaching a bilateral framework agreement to end the conflict in the Middle East.
Benjamin Netanyahu described the zone that the Israeli army created in southern Lebanon as a barrier between "Hezbollah" and citizens and settlements in northern Israel.
Netanyahu again called for strengthening Israel's military autonomy, Agence France-Presse reported.
"I want independence in the matter of armaments", he said at a meeting on Thursday with a group of reservist officers in the West Bank.
"We need our own weapons system. We need to produce our own weapons", the Israeli leader stressed. He expressed his gratitude to the United States for military support, but also said that Israel must "free itself from dependence" and increase its weapons production capacity.
The Israeli army said today that its soldiers had fired on armed terrorists in southern Lebanon "to eliminate the threat".