Netanyahu vows continued Israeli military presence in Lebanon Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, defence minister Israel Katz and Chief of the General Staff Eyal Zamir have reaffirmed Israel's intention to maintain its military presence in southern Lebanon and continue operations against Hezbollah. In a joint statement, the three leaders said the Israeli military would continue to "act with determination in order to neutralize threats against our soldiers and our citizens" and would keep targeting what it described as Hezbollah infrastructure. They also said Israeli forces would continue to "maintain the security zone in southern Lebanon".