Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sparked a new debate about southern Lebanon, after he claimed in an interview with Fox News that some Lebanese Christian villages had asked Israel to annex them, in a statement that opened a sensitive door in light of the ongoing field escalation and Israeli raids in the south.
Netanyahu told Fox News that “some Lebanese Christian villages asked Israel to annex them,” without providing, in the quoted statement, additional details about the names of these villages or the nature of the request he spoke about.
Netanyahu’s statements come at a time when the south is witnessing an escalating wave of tension, with Israeli channels announcing attacks in southern areas, including Ali al-Taher Heights, and confirmation of Israeli raids and warnings to residents in the Galilee of hearing explosions resulting from strikes in Lebanon.
These statements also intersect with Israeli positions that preceded them during the past hours, as Netanyahu denied that US President Donald Trump asked him to refrain from moving against Hezbollah’s tunnels in southern Lebanon, stressing that Israel is acting according to its own considerations.
In the same context, Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir sent sharp messages from the Shaqif area, in which he talked about the readiness to move to a rapid attack in the event of a violation of the ceasefire, as Israel continues to link its field movements to what it describes as removing threats from Lebanese territory.
Netanyahu’s words also come after reports of his visit to southern Lebanon and his statement that Israel will not withdraw as long as, according to him, the threats associated with Hezbollah are not removed.
Thus, Netanyahu’s statement adds a new element to an already charged scene between the field escalation, the political debate over the framework agreement, and repeated Israeli warnings, while the south remains at the heart of an open test of the ceasefire and the upcoming borders of engagement.
