Energy Minister Eli Cohen said Thursday that Israel has not withdrawn and will not withdraw from the security zone in southern Lebanon, rejecting a Reuters report that Israel had partially pulled back. "We are not withdrawing from the security zone — even if Trump or any US official asks, we will tell them no," Cohen said.
Energy Minister Eli Cohen added a forceful denial at 17:08 Tuesday as the thread's latest version, rejecting any notion of an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon. "We are not withdrawing from the security zone — even if Trump or any US official asks, we will tell them no," Cohen said at the MUNI EXPO 2026 conference, directly rebutting a Reuters report earlier Thursday that claimed a partial pullback as a goodwill gesture.
This denial caps a rapid sequence of conflicting reports and statements through the day. At 11:53, Reuters first quoted unnamed officials saying Israel had withdrawn from parts of the security zone — a claim immediately disputed by Israeli officials. By the same hour, a US official described the pullback as a "goodwill gesture" toward the Lebanese government, and an Israeli official confirmed that framing to N12's Amit Segal. However, by the late morning Israel and Lebanon both flatly rejected the Reuters account. The denial of US pressure has been consistent: as The Zioneer reported earlier this week, Defense Minister Katz and Prime Minister Netanyahu each stated in recent days that no withdrawal is planned or ordered.
Cohen's remarks — repeating a similar line he gave at the same conference on Wednesday — align with the government's unanimous rejection but introduce an explicit rejection of hypothetical US demands, which no current US official has confirmed making. The thread reflects a pattern: initial US-sourced reports of a withdrawal, followed by unanimous Israeli denial, with no official Israeli acknowledgment of any pullback.
The central open question remains whether any tactical redeployment — even a small-scale one — has occurred on the ground. Neither the IDF nor any Israeli official has confirmed or denied specific troop movements, and the Reuters claim of a "goodwill gesture" has been publicly rejected by both Israel and Lebanon, with no independent confirmation from either government.
7 developments
- StrongEnergy Minister Eli Cohen: Israel must reject any US dictate to withdraw from Lebanon
- DevelopingSenior Israeli security official: IDF will not withdraw from southern Lebanon
- DevelopingIsraeli officials dismiss reports of IDF withdrawal from points in Lebanon
- DevelopingNetanyahu: Israeli forces are not leaving Lebanon
Source and signal
- Internal intake