. After two weeks in which the Israeli Army has repeatedly bombed the Lebanese capital, Beirut, alleging a response to the launch of projectiles by the Shiite militia Hezbollah – counterattacking for the US and Israel’s war against Iran – the plans of Benjamin Netanyahu’s Government for the neighboring country are clearer. His Minister of Defense, Israel Katz, confirmed this Monday that the blue line that delimits the demilitarized area agreed with the United Nations. All the south, up to the banks of the Litani River.
carrying out incursions into a territory that international law establishes that only UNIFIL — the UN blue helmet mission — and the Lebanese Army can operate. This weekend they approved the order to blow up five bridges in the southern area, alleging that they facilitated the mobility of Hezbollah militiamen – also the civilian population who have been forced to leave their homes.
But the demolition of homes and entire villages was also approved, justifying that it could serve as infrastructure for the pro-Iranian armed group. It was done by mentioning a model of military campaign that everyone has very much in mind when remembering the ruins of what once was the Gaza Strip. They will enter with heavy machinery destroying and.
The same recipe for destruction as in Gaza, with no time horizon other than the end of “terrorism”
In both cases, Beit Hanun and Rafah, the territory of those cities continues under Israeli occupation, despite the US ‘peace plan’. In the case of the border city with Egypt, Israel has never reopened the passage through which the agreed humanitarian aid and the exit of the wounded would have to arrive. For this reason, the fear that this area will become another under occupation sine the of Israel is very real.
The Israeli Defense Minister himself did not give any reference to the time horizon of said occupation. In fact, they have not even confirmed whether they really consider it to be a temporary occupation. He has only limited himself to summarizing it with one sentence: “The principle is clear: if there is terrorism and missiles, neither houses nor residents.” As for those residents, it has provided more information. Israel Katz has indicated that “hundreds of thousands” of inhabitants will not be able to return to their homes until Israeli security is guaranteed.
Katz has also confirmed that they have destroyed five of the bridges over the Litani River, but that now the Israeli Army “will control the remaining bridges and the security zone up to the Litani.” That is, Israel will completely dominate the access to the southern Lebanese area, taking over an important area of the so-called buffer zone. Along the way, the Israeli attacks have already left 1,040 people murdered – of these, 118 are children and 40 health workers – in addition to some 2,900 injured. The displaced exceed one million.
Lebanese land occupied by Israeli troops is part of the Zionist ‘Greater Israel’ project
Despite the relevance of the Israeli Defense Minister’s announcement, the reality is that an Israeli occupation in Lebanon is neither new, nor does it sound new. Southern Lebanon was already under occupation for 16 years, from 1982 to 2000, practically to the outskirts of Beirut. By the way, they named that occupation Operation Litani. And the fact that there are troops from the Jewish State occupying southern Lebanon is something that Zionism itself already contemplates. The ‘promised land’ that this movement claims includes that Lebanese territory.
As noted, in the various manifestations and historical evolution of what ‘Greater Israel’ would encompass, not only historical Palestine is included – already occupied in Gaza and the West Bank – but also the Sinai Peninsula, Egyptian Palestine, Cyprus, 30% of Egypt, most of Iraq, a large area of Saudi Arabia, all of Kuwait, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon, and parts of southern Turkey. It is an idea that the Israeli Prime Minister’s ministers such as Belazel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir defend staunchly, but with which Benjamin Netanyahu himself also flirts.
On the other hand, it is worth remembering that during the previous military campaign on Gaza and the suburbs of Beirut, scenes were recorded that suggest that Israel not only operates in the fight against Hezbollah when it enters Lebanese territory. In the Israeli media. What was a person of such a high age doing accompanied by an IDF sergeant before being ambushed and shot by Hezbollah troops? Inspect an ancient Crusader fortress.
For example, in the area now controlled by Israel in southern Lebanon is one of the greatest archaeological and historical gems of the region, the city of Tyre. An ancient Phoenician city, it has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO since 1981. But it is also one of those crossing points of different cultures and religions, from Muslim to Christian to Jewish. Precisely, the Bible speaks of this Lebanese territory and others like Babylon, predicting that they would become Sodom and Gomorrah, or on the contrary, they will remain uninhabited forever. A kind of metaphor after knowing the destruction plans of the Israeli Army.
But there is another key element in controlling the banks of the Latani and it is the river itself. It is a geostrategic element as it borders part of the Syrian border, but it also does so along 29 kilometers with the Israeli border. In addition to water, key to the agriculture of the Qasmieh-Ras-el-Aïn region, Lebanon’s large citrus and banana orchards; the Litani provides access to key energy infrastructure. It is a dam that represents the largest electricity generation in the country with a production of 185 megawatts. Control of this area also involves control of said energy.
