Lebanon PM says Beirut working for 'complete Israeli withdrawal'

Lebanon is working towards a "complete Israeli withdrawal" from areas it occupies, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said on Wednesday (July 22, 2026) on a visit to a village where Lebanon's army recently deployed.

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"We will continue mobilising our political and diplomatic efforts to secure a complete Israeli withdrawal from the south," he said in Zawtar al-Gharbiya.

Israeli forces were previously present on the outskirts of the village following the war with Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Mr. Salam visited the town a day after Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump at the White House, where he "stressed the urgent need for a full Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory".

Under a U.S.-sponsored agreement signed last month, Lebanon's army is meant to disarm Hezbollah, and the Israeli military is to withdraw from "pilot zones" where Lebanese forces will subsequently deploy.

Hezbollah has repeatedly rejected the agreement and refuses to lay down its weapons.

The military said on Tuesday (July 21, 2026) that Israeli forces "opened fire" near troops deploying at Zawtar al-Gharbiya.

The Israeli military said it had only fired "warning shots into the air" after Lebanese soldiers entered an area that was "not part of the pilot area".

Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the West Asia war by attacking Israel in support of Tehran on March 2, prompting major Israeli airstrikes and a ground invasion.

After planting a Lebanese flag in Zawtar al-Gharbiya on Wednesday, Salam said "in parallel with the army's deployment, we will continue opening roads, removing rubble, and securing essential services, enabling our people to return safely and with dignity to their homes and villages".

'Heads held high'

The war caused widespread destruction, mainly in the south, though violence has declined since the signing of a framework agreement between the United States and Iran last month and the Lebanon-Israel deal.

According to the United Nations, more than 700,000 people have returned to their homes over the past few weeks. In Zawtar al-Gharbiya, dozens of residents waited at the village's entrance for permission to go check on their homes.

"We will enter the town with our heads held high, thanks to the presence of the Lebanese army," Abbas Yaghi, 73, told AFP.

The military had told residents on Tuesday (July 21) to avoid entering the village "until the security situation stabilises".

The army is conducting a sweep of the town, which is geographically contiguous with its Israeli-occupied neighbour, Zawtar al-Shariqya.

Israeli troops still launch intermittent strikes in surrounding towns, the latest on Nabatieh al-Fawqa.

"We will follow the army if it gives us permission to enter," Mostapha Ammar, a 60-year-old resident of Zawtar al-Sharqiya said, hoping that Israel would withdraw from other areas.

Wafaa Ismail, 64, also from Zawtar al-Sharqiya, was not granted permission to enter the neighbouring village as Salam visited.

She expressed frustration at seeing the prime minister enter on his own, escorted by the army, saying: "He should have brought the people in with him so he could claim victory."