Iran, US say deal to end war 'has never been closer'
06/12/2026 June 12, 2026 Israel 'will not withdraw from Lebanon, Syria, Gaza' – minister Regardless of what may be agreed in any peace deal signed
06/12/2026 June 12, 2026 Israel 'will not withdraw from Lebanon, Syria, Gaza' – minister Regardless of what may be agreed in any peace deal signed by the United States and Iran, Israel will not withdraw from any territories occupied during the current ongoing conflict in the Middle East and will continue to combat any attempts by Iran to acquire nuclear weapons, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Friday. "Our security doctrine is sharp and clear: We act against both near and distant threats and strive for decisive outcomes rather than compromises and concessions," Katz wrote on social media, insisting that the Israeli military (IDF) "will not withdraw from the security zones in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza." Katz said this policy was a "central lesson from the events of October 7 [2023]" — when Hamas militants lauched attacks in Israel that killed over 1,000 people and saw a further 251 taken hostage.
Israel's retaliatory invasion of Gaza has seen over 70,000 Palestinians killed and much of the occupied territory's infrastructure destroyed, while also prompting conflict with Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon and with Iran itself, with Israel supported by the United States on the latter front. "Together, we have inflicted severe blows on Iran that have set back its capabilities by many years," wrote Katz – despite Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) continuing to target US military bases across the Gulf, and indeed Israel itself.
US President Donald Trump has claimed that Washington and Tehran are close to signing a peace deal, a deal which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel is not party to, but which Defense Minister Katz claims takes into account a
"shared interest" with Israel: preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. "We expect [President Trump] to uphold this principle [as well as] additional principles in the realm of missiles and terrorist proxies," Katz wrote, referring to Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.
The BriefWire