Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir fueled international condemnation with his calls over that weekend for all of Lebanon to “burn,” with the European Union declaring such rhetoric to be “unacceptable.”
Unsurprisingly, Ben-Gvir continued to make statements likely to garner such attention, as on Monday he not only demanded that the government reject any call for a ceasefire out of hand, but insisted that Lebanon must remains “Israel’s playground.”
The rhetoric continued, with him defending the ongoing invasion on the grounds “you wouldn’t tolerate having Nazis on your border,” and saying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should make clear to the US that Israel won’t fulfill any peace deal involving not attacking Lebanon.
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir
That’s largely a distinction without a difference, as Israeli official made clear, heading into this week’s round of talks, that they consider any terms requiring them to withdraw from Lebanon, or to stop attacking Lebanon, to be a “red line.”
Israel invaded Lebanon in early March, and has killed in excess of 4,000 Lebanese since then. Despite some half a dozen ceasefires declared, the latest on Friday, Israel has more or less continued attacking throughout, with relative lulls rarely lasting more than a day or two.
With the US keen to broker another ceasefire, Israeli officials report that they are considering what they term “symbolic” withdrawals from Lebanese territory, which is to say they would remove a small number of troops from a few parts of Lebanon that they aren’t particularly interested in, while framing that as a concession.
Troops would remain within the Yellow Line and “security zone” they’ve laid out, which cover a substantial part of Lebanon and amount to where the bulk of Israel’s occupation forces are. Netanyahu insisted that his directive was that troops will remain within that area, and moreover insisted the IDF had “full freedom of action” within Lebanon.
It is these positions that have largely resulted in consecutive ceasefires that Israeli officials and Lebanese officials agreed to which aim to constrain Hezbollah resistance to the occupation, while codifying the ongoing strikes and advances ever deeper into Lebanon as some vague form of concession.
