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Netanyahu says Israel expanding occupation of southern Lebanon
Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier that
Israel’s forces are expanding a so-called “buffer zone” in
southern Lebanon as the military presses ahead with its campaign against
Hezbollah.
“We have created a ‘genuine security zone’ preventing any infiltration toward the Galilee and the northern border,” Netanyahu said in a video statement.
“We are expanding this zone to push the threat from anti-tank missiles further away and to establish a broader buffer zone,” the Israeli prime minister said.
Israel said on Tuesday that it would
seize parts of southern Lebanon to create what it described as a “defensive buffer” – prompting fears that Israel is planning another protracted occupation.
During a meeting with the military chief of staff,
Israel defence minister
Israel Katz said Israeli forces would “control the remaining bridges and the security zone up to the Litani”, a river in Lebanon that meets the Mediterranean about 30km (20 miles) north of Israel’s border.
Katz added that all bridges over the Litani river “have been blown up and the IDF will control the remaining bridges”.
Israel’s destruction of bridges, homes and other civilian infrastructure in southern Lebanon had prompted fears that it was cutting off the region from the rest of the country, and planning another occupation – with the hundreds of thousands of displaced Lebanese left without homes to return to.
The previous day,
Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s far-right finance minister, had called for annexation outright, saying Israel should
“apply sovereignty” in areas in southern Lebanon, signalling this expansionist vision that has alarmed critics at home and abroad.
Iranian foreign minister claims Tehran has not been in talks to end war – “and we do not plan on any negotiations”; Israeli PM’s comments prompt fears of protracted occupation
www.theguardian.com
