Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz declared on Wednesday that the United States has not demanded a withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon and that Israel will not leave the territory it occupies. Speaking at a conference in Tel Aviv, Katz described the absence of an American request as a “diplomatic achievement” and said he had told US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth that the troops are there “to protect the residents of the north.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reinforced the message, stating that the security zone—a strip up to 10 kilometres deep inside Lebanese territory—would be maintained as long as he remains in office. The remarks directly challenge a central condition set by Iran for the implementation of the memorandum of understanding signed with Washington on 18 June.

Viewed from Tehran, a ceasefire in Lebanon is inseparable from any broader settlement. Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, said on Wednesday that “an end to the war in Lebanon is as important as an end to the war in Iran.” The Iranian position is that the US-brokered deal, which aims to halt a conflict that began with American and Israeli strikes on Iran on 28 February, must include a cessation of hostilities on the Lebanese front. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, meanwhile, has rejected both the Israeli occupation and foreign interference in his country’s affairs—a formulation widely read as a message to Hezbollah’s Iranian backers. The fifth round of US-mediated talks between Israel and Lebanon opened in Washington on Tuesday, but the Israeli refusal to cede the occupied zone now overshadows those discussions.

The Israeli stance complicates an already fragile diplomatic architecture. The US-Iran memorandum has been buffeted by conflicting accounts over financial incentives, the status of the Strait of Hormuz, and the scope of nuclear inspections. Two days after the accord was signed, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards announced the closure of the strait, citing Israeli strikes on Lebanon. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is touring Gulf capitals—Abu Dhabi, Kuwait City, and Manama—to reassure allies who were themselves targeted by Iranian missiles during the war and who view the proposed $300 billion fund and sanctions relief as too generous to Tehran. American officials have not publicly demanded an Israeli withdrawal, but the viability of the deal depends on quieting the Lebanon front.

The current war erupted when Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel on 2 March in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader in the 28 February strikes. Israel’s subsequent ground offensive has killed more than 4,100 people in Lebanon, according to Lebanese authorities, and created the security zone that Israeli leaders now vow to retain. While Washington insists the memorandum is a step toward a permanent settlement, the absence of a mechanism to reconcile Israel’s occupation with Iran’s ceasefire demand leaves the process in limbo. The next technical talks are expected to address these gaps, but without movement on Lebanon, the path to a comprehensive ceasefire remains blocked.