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Extremist Israeli minister calls for re-occupation of southern Lebanon

Tuesday, 30 July 2024 7:03 AM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 30 July 2024 7:03 AM ]

Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (Photo by Flash90)

Israel’s far-right finance minister has called for the re-occupation of Lebanon’s southern area amid heightened tensions between the usurping regime and the Hezbollah resistance movement.

During a speech in the occupied Old City of al-Quds on Monday, Bezalel Smotrich argued that only a war with Hezbollah can ease the conflict, adding, “The Israeli people are ready for this.”

"There is no way to restore security to the residents of the north without a war that will destroy Hezbollah, that will reoccupy southern Lebanon,” the racist minister said.

He also noted that Israel must create “a security strip” within Lebanese territory.

Israel occupied a strip of land in southern Lebanon in the early 1980s and withdrew from the region in May 2000.

Smotrich’s controversial remarks came two days after a rocket hit a soccer field at the Druze town of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Syrian territory of Golan Heights, killing 12 people, many of them children.

Rocket strike kills 10 in Syria’s Israeli-occupied Golan Heights

Rocket strike kills at least 10 people in Syria’s Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, prompting the Israeli regime to blame Hezbollah, despite the group’s strong denial of any role in the incident.

Israeli officials claimed that Hezbollah was behind the attack and pledged to hit back at the Lebanese resistance group.

However, Hezbollah said in a statement that it “has absolutely nothing to do with the incident, and categorically denies all false allegations in this regard.”

Some reports have suggested that the incident was likely caused by a stray projectile fired by the Israeli regime’s so-called Iron Dome missile system.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Foreign Ministry said Israel had committed the heinous crime in Majdal Shams as part of its attempts to escalate the situation and expand the scope of its genocidal aggression against the Gaza Strip.

Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging deadly fire since early October, shortly after the regime launched its brutal war on Gaza onslaught following a surprise operation by the Palestinian Hamas resistance group.

Hezbollah has vowed to keep up its retaliatory attacks as long as the Tel Aviv regime continues its Gaza onslaught, which has so far killed at least 39,363 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 90,923 others.

Israeli media say Hezbollah's retaliatory strikes have displaced around 60,000 Israeli settlers from northern parts of the occupied lands.

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