In the course of his recent speeches, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has laid out the position calling once again for the outright annexation of much of southern Lebanon, saying that territory losses should serve as a “penalty” for Israel’s enemies for opposing them.
In one speech he declared that both Gaza and Lebanon “will be ours.” During that speech, he similarly bragged that the “thorough cleansing” ongoing deep into Lebanese territory would leave the southern Lebanese with “nowhere to return to” and closed with “by the way, the world isn’t stopping us.”
Israel’s most recent invasion of southern Lebanon began in early March. Seven months later, the IDF has continued to push deeper and deeper into Lebanon, and is demolishing villages, mostly Shi’ite ones, in the course of those operations.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich gestures, on the day of a press conference regarding settlements expansion for the long-frozen E1 settlement, that would split East Jerusalem from the occupied West Bank, near the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, August 14, 2025. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
The mass destruction of towns and villages within Lebanon has included leveling homes, badly damaging surrounding farmland, setting fires, and destroying subterranean tunnels. Smotrich bragged in his comments that Israel’s “cleansing” was thorough both above and below ground.
Smotrich is one of several far-right Israeli figures who has been advocating for annexation of the seized territories, and said he believes Israel ought to “apply permanent sovereignty” over the seized territory within Lebanon. How deep he intends that to go is not directly stated.
Lebanese officials are reportedly preparing to propose an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory in stages, though so far Israeli negotiators have opposed any deals which include a concrete commitment to actually withdraw ground troops entirely from Lebanon, and have similarly opposed any ceasefire which would oblige them to stop attacking Lebanese territory.
