Jerusalem / Anadolu

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Thursday that he informed his US counterpart Pete Hegseth of Tel Aviv's intention to remain in what it called 'safe zones' in Syria, Gaza, and Lebanon.

The US news website Axios reported days ago that President Donald Trump asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to withdraw the army from Lebanon and Syria.

The Israeli Defense Minister's office said in a statement that Katz spoke last night with his US counterpart Pete Hegseth, and they discussed the latest developments regarding US military operations in Iran, and agreed to continue cooperation between the two sides in the face of any potential developments.

The statement added that Katz affirmed Israel's determination to remain in the safe zones in Syria, Gaza, and Lebanon to protect its borders and nearby settlements from threats of what he described as 'jihadist groups'.

Katz said: 'We have never asked the United States to intervene on our behalf on our borders, and we are committed to protecting the people of Israel from any threat, and this is what we intend to do,' according to his words.

On June 26 of last year, Beirut and Tel Aviv, under US auspices, signed a 'framework formula' stipulating a gradual Israeli withdrawal from all occupied Lebanese territory, starting with two pilot (model) zones without naming them, but implementation has not begun.

In October 2025, a ceasefire was reached in the Gaza Strip, but Israel still controls about 70 percent of the Strip's area.

Since 1967, Israel has occupied most of the Syrian Golan Heights, and exploited the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime in late 2024, declaring the collapse of the disengagement agreement signed between the two sides in 1974, before occupying the Syrian buffer zone.