Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has declared that formally occupy the whole of Lebanese territory south of the Litani River, and will commit to a policy of totally leveling the villages along the border of the occupied territory and northern Israel.
Katz had talked up an occupation in everything but name last week, talking of creating a “buffer zone” out of that territory, and saying no Lebanese civilians would be allowed to return to that part of Lebanon.
The pretense of a “buffer zone” seems to be fading fast among Israeli officials, with Katz now talking of Israel simply gaining occupational control over the region, and destroying the southernmost villages within “in accordance with the Rafah and Beit Hanoun model in Gaza.”
Smoke and fire come out of a building that was targeted by an Israeli air strike on the edge of Beirut southern suburb and close to the Iranian embassy (via Reuters Connect)
Katz reiterated that the return of any Lebanese displaced into the occupied south will be “completely prohibited” and claimed this would effect some 600,000 Lebanese civilians. Israel has already destroyed all the bridges spanning the Litani River, so anyone who fled north earlier is effectively locked out of returning at any rate.
Human Rights Watch noted that the policy amounted to both forced displacement and wanton destruction, which are considered war crimes under international law. The Israeli offensive continues, however, with the IDF reporting four of their troops were killed and two wounded in fighting.
That Israel’s actions in Lebanon amount to war crimes appears to matter less and less, as Israel has openly deliberately attacked and killed journalists and health care workers repeatedly in the course of the war, rounding out the first month of the conflict by attacking and killed two UN peacekeepers.
Map of southern Lebanon | Image from Wikimedia
While there has been substantial criticism of the killing of the peacekeepers, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher expressed concern that the international community was ill-prepared for the unfolding humanitarian crisis.
Fletcher cited the widespread destruction and death in Gaza, much as Katz did, asking at the UN Security Council meeting how the international community would protect the displaced civilians, given what already happened in Gaza. He further asked “given the intensity of the coercive displacement that we are seeing, how should we prepare collectively as the international community for a new addition to the list of occupied territories? “
Israel began this latest invasion of Lebanon at the beginning of March, and Israeli orders have displaced some 1.1 million civilians, according to estimates. The Lebanese government itself was both unready and seemingly unable to provide for that level of displacement, leaving international aid groups scrambling and the displaced facing a very uncertain future.
Given that Katz’s stated policy is to level many of their homes and ensure they’re not allowed to return to the south, that uncertainty is only growing.
