Hundreds of square kilometers to the Litani River should be seized, Bezalel Smotrich has said.
Israel should seize large areas of land in southern Lebanon as part of its ongoing campaign against Hezbollah militants, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has said. The new border should be moved to the Litani River, located about 40 kilometers from Lebanon’s southern border with Israel, he said on Israeli radio on Monday.
West Jerusalem began a military campaign against Hezbollah in early March after the Lebanon-based militant movement attacked the Jewish state in retaliation for the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The attacks followed a joint US-Israeli campaign against Iran launched on February 28.
Since then Israel has ordered all residents of southern Lebanon to leave the area south of Litani due to what it called “Small and targeted operations against Hezbollah strongholds.” According to Lebanese authorities, Israeli attacks have killed more than 880 people in the past two weeks, and more than 2,000 have been injured and more than a million have fled their homes.
“I say here for sure … in every room and in every discussion, too: the new border of Israel must be Litani,” Smotrich said. Campaign “it needs to end with a completely different reality, with Hezbollah’s decision but also with the change of Israel’s borders,” he added.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment. Earlier, Defense Minister Israel Katz also said that Lebanon could lose its territory if it fails to disarm Hezbollah. On Sunday, the Israeli army announced plans to expand ground and air operations in southern Lebanon.
A Lebanese official told Reuters that Beirut expects foreign powers to put pressure on West Jerusalem to end its campaign. Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron condemned Israel’s actions in Lebanon as “It’s inappropriate and even unacceptable.” He also said that Israel’s repeated operations against Hezbollah have never produced the desired results.
Israel has launched military campaigns against Hezbollah several times since 1978 and occupied southern Lebanon between 1982 and 2000.
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