JERUSALEM/BEIRUT, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Israel won’t withdraw from ​southern Lebanon until Hezbollah is disarmed, the defence minister said on Thursday, qualifying remarks he made a day ‌earlier that had suggested Israeli forces would occupy the territory indefinitely and drew U.S. criticism.

Israel seized a swath of south Lebanon during a war with Hezbollah earlier this year and has said it will keep forces there to shield northern Israel from attack by the Iran-backed group, which ignited the latest ​hostilities when it opened fire at Israel two days into the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

Katz’s ​statement echoed recent remarks by Netanyahu on Gaza and Hamas. On Sunday, Netanyahu said that U.S. ​President Donald Trump’s ⁠latest Gaza roadmap was “unacceptable” and that Israel would not withdraw before Hamas is disarmed.

The U.S.-brokered deal between Lebanon and Israel leaves Israeli troops inside Lebanon until Hezbollah is disarmed and the Lebanese military takes control of the south, a process involving “pilot zones”.