2026-06-21T12:02:27+00:00

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Shafaq News-
Beirut

Israel
“will not withdraw from the security zone in Lebanon,” Defense
Minister Israel Katz declared on Sunday, as US-Iran negotiations opened in Geneva
with the Lebanese file at the top of the agenda.

“There was
and is no restriction on the Israeli soldiers in Lebanon from operating to
remove threats,” Katz said, adding that all of the “achievements” in the
campaign in Lebanon are being maintained. The ceasefire announced Saturday, he
said, leaves the army in all positions within the security zone that protects
the northern communities, a deployment Israel has no intention of reversing.

Hezbollah held
Israel fully responsible for violating the ceasefire, calling on the United
States and other countries to pressure Israel into compliance. The group’s
operations room stated that its fighters are “in full readiness to defend
their land, whatever the sacrifices.”

Hours after the
ceasefire announcement, the Lebanese Army engineering units started defusing
unexploded aerial bombs weighing between 1,000 and 2,000 pounds in the towns of
Tibnin and Khirbet Silm in the Bint Jbeil district, and Majdal Silm, Debin, and
Blat in the Marjayoun district, transferring them to safe locations. The army
said units worked to “open main and secondary roads in Debin and
Blat,” and urged residents to exercise caution before returning to
southern border villages, citing the danger of “Israeli violations and
aggressions” and unexploded ordnance.

واصلت وحدات مختصة من الجيش تفكيك قنابل طيران غير منفجرة من مخلفات العدوان الإسرائيلي (زنة ألف باوند وألفَي باوند) في بلدات: تبنين وخربة سلم (بنت جبيل) ومجدل سلم ودبين وبلاط (مرجعيون)، وعملت على نقلها إلى مواقع آمنة لإجراء اللازم بشأنها، حفاظًا على سلامة المواطنين في المناطق… pic.twitter.com/XK9p8W8GIn

— الجيش اللبناني (@LebarmyOfficial) June 21, 2026

4,057 Lebanese
killed in Israeli strikes and 12,121 wounded since March 2 through Saturday,
according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health. Israeli army figures recorded
30 soldiers killed and dozens wounded since the start of operations, including
seven deaths since Thursday.

In Geneva,
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ismail Baqaei confirmed that Iran would
not advance to the next phase of nuclear and sanctions talks with Washington
before a ceasefire in Lebanon is reached, directly linking the nuclear
diplomacy track to conditions on the ground in southern Lebanon.