Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz told his US counterpart Pete Hegseth early on Thursday that Israel is determined to keep its forces in "security zones" it has carved out inside Lebanon, Syria and the Gaza Strip.
In a statement, Katz's office said the two men spoke overnight and the minister "emphasised Israel's determination to remain in the security zones in Syria, Gaza, and Lebanon”.
Hegseth also briefed Katz on US military operations in Iran, and the two agreed to continue cooperation between the countries in response to any possible developments.
Lebanon and Israel talks
It comes a day after Lebanese and Israeli officials ended another round of US-mediated talks on Wednesday, focusing on a plan to establish “pilot zones” in southern Lebanon from which Israeli forces would begin withdrawing.
The two-day diplomatic talks in Rome concluded with a US official calling the meetings “productive and positive”.
Under a US-brokered June 26 framework deal, Israeli forces are to withdraw from the large swaths of southern Lebanon they are occupying, in exchange for disarmament of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group.
The deal was supposed to begin with two pilot zones where the Israeli military is to turn over control to the Lebanese army, which would clear the areas of any Hezbollah presence.
Hezbollah rejects disarming.
Despite the talks, Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have repeatedly ruled out withdrawing troops from southern Lebanon.
