From the Liveblog of
Monday, July 29, 2024
Smotrich says reoccupation of south Lebanon is only way to end Hezbollah attacks
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich insists there is no solution to the crisis in the north, short of the Israeli reoccupation of southern Lebanon.
During a speech in Jerusalem’s Old City, Smotrich continues to beat the war drums, saying that “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, and that will return the security strip that is today in our territory back to the territory of Lebanon.”
Israel occupied a strip of land in southern Lebanon from the early 1980s until the IDF’s withdrawal in May 2000.
“The Israeli people are ready for this. They see with their own eyes the results of flight and withdrawal. It started in Oslo, then the flight from Lebanon and Gush Katif and the thought that it is possible to gather behind walls, fences, and sensors and build on international guarantees,” he says.
סמוטריץ׳: "אין דרך להחזיר את הביטחון לתושבי הצפון ללא מלחמה שתשמיד את חיזבאללה, שתכבוש את דרום לבנון מחדש ושתחזיר את רצועת הביטחון שנמצאת היום בשטח שלנו חזרה אל השטח של לבנון"@DaphnaLiel pic.twitter.com/tw9lvRcOif
— החדשות – N12 (@N12News) July 29, 2024
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