Netanyahu: IDF Has ‘Full Freedom of Action’ in Southern Lebanon

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Monday, June 22, that Israeli forces in southern Lebanon retain “full freedom of action” against any threat, pushing back against claims that a new US-Iran arrangement would tie Israel’s hands. “The directive that the defense minister and I have given the IDF is clear and has not changed,” he said, insisting that troops face “no restrictions” in thwarting direct or emerging dangers to residents of northern Israel. He reaffirmed his commitment to maintaining a security zone in southern Lebanon for as long as necessary.

His statement followed claims of a new deconfliction mechanism for Lebanon, shaped during US-Iran negotiations in Switzerland over the weekend of June 20-21, that would narrow Israel’s permitted responses to “imminent threats” alone. US Vice President JD Vance said such a mechanism had been established during talks in Burgenstock on Sunday, June 21, and suggested Hezbollah would be drawn into discussions among Israel, Lebanon, and other regional partners. Both Jerusalem and Beirut have resisted any arrangement that seats the Iran-backed terror group, and its patrons in Tehran, at the table.

A further claim held that the new oversight body would include the United States, Iran, Lebanon, Qatar, and Pakistan while leaving Israel out, departing sharply from the November 2024 framework that had included Israel. A senior US official disputed that Israel had been excluded, stressing that the close ties between Washington and Jerusalem ensure Israel’s interests are protected. The next round of direct Israel-Lebanon talks was set to open in Washington on Tuesday, June 23.

(TOI/VFI News)

“What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?” – Romans 8:31