Israel announces it has granted itself permission to stay in Lebanon

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz stressed in a statement on Thursday that Israel "didn't ask for anyone's approval" when it entered Lebanon, further adding that it "[doesn't] need approval to stay [there]", AzerNEWS reports.

His comments come after United States President Donald Trump said that he believes Israel would pull out its troops from Lebanon, despite the Israeli officials previously insisting they wouldn't do that until Hezbollah is completely disarmed.

Katz reiterated those claims in today's statement, mentioning that it is Israel's "right and duty to defend the residents of the Galilee and Israeli citizens from the threats of the jihadist terror group Hezbollah."

United States President Donald Trump insisted on Wednesday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been a great wartime leader.

Speaking alongside Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on the sidelines of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in Ankara, Trump said that he believes that, due to Israel's achievements against Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran, Netanyahu should be popular with the public. Still, when asked whether he thought Netanyahu should remain prime minister after the upcoming general election, Trump did not respond directly but admitted, "I don't know anything about his politics, I'm not sure."

Furthermore, Trump reiterated that Israel "would not have existed" and that Iran would have defeated if he and Netanyahu were not leaders at the time of the conflict. However, he urged Israel to withdraw its troops from Lebanon.