Israel has been ramping up hostilities with Hezbollah in Lebanon, spreading its genocidal war on Gaza further afield. Since Israel began its attacks on occupied Gaza, Hezbollah has been opposing them from the south of Lebanon in solidarity.
Suspected Israeli terror attacks last week saw technological devices explode, injuring thousands and killing dozens of people. But ministers from Benjamin Netanyahu’s war criminal regime have been blunt about what’s to come for Lebanon – just as the latest death toll from Israeli strikes is released.
Israel: from ‘annihilation’ to “taking over” the south of Lebanon
First, education minister Yoav Kisch equated Lebanese civilians with Hezbollah, saying “there is no difference between Hezbollah and Lebanon”. Before reluctantly backtracking under pressure, he also promised “Lebanon will be annihilated”:
"There is no difference between Hezbollah and Lebanon. Lebanon will be annihilated. It will cease to exist."
— Israel's Minister of Education
pic.twitter.com/y461oY1YbH— Ramy Abdu| رامي عبده (@RamAbdu) September 21, 2024
Now, diaspora affairs minister Amichai Chikli is planning the creation of a “buffer zone, free of the enemy population” in the south of Lebanon. Removing local people from the area, he argued, was the “most just thing to do”.
He stressed that “the Lebanese government is not a sovereign entity” as it “does not meet the definition of a state”, and insisted that “taking over” the southern areas was the colonial power’s right. He asserted that “a territorial war was launched against us without any provocation on our part”.
Highlighting how big the conflict could get if Western governments continue to back the Israeli state unconditionally, Chikli added that he considers neither Syria nor Iraq to “meet the definitions of a state” either. He sees the borders that exist in the Middle East today to be out of date, and suggested Israel will help to “recalculate” them.
Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, has said Israel is pursuing “a war of extermination” which will destroy southern communities.
לבנון, למרות שיש לה דגל ולמרות שיש לה מוסדות פוליטיים לא עונה להגדרה מדינה.
בהיעדר מונופול על הפעלת הכוח הן כלפי פנים והן כלפי חוץ ממשלת לבנון היא לא יישות ריבונית. על מרחב הגבול עם לבנון המאוכלס ברובו באוכלוסייה שיעית עויינת שולט באפקטיביות ארגון חזבאללה שבשמונה לאוקטובר פתח… pic.twitter.com/pVrszT5tFf
— עמיחי שיקלי – Amichai Chikli (@AmichaiChikli) September 21, 2024
The death toll continues to rise
Lebanese health minister Firass Abiad said the death toll from Israeli strikes on Lebanon on Monday rose to 274, among them 21 children, while thousands of families fled the bombardment.
The toll was “274 dead including 21 children and 39 women – that’s who we know about until now,” Abiad told a news conference at around 3:30pm BST. He added that “thousands of families from the targeted areas have been displaced”.
About 5,000 people had been wounded “in less than a week” of Israeli attacks, he said.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah said it targeted two more Israeli bases on Monday in retaliation for the deadliest Israeli strikes on the country’s east and south in nearly a year of clashes.
Hezbollah launched “dozens of rockets” at two Israeli bases “in response to the Israeli enemy’s attacks on the south and the Bekaa” in Lebanon’s east, after targeting three other sites earlier in the day as part of their retaliation.
Featured image via the Canary
