"Israel's defence minister has said a buffer zone will be set up inside southern Lebanon and that Israel will keep security control over a swathe of the territory even after the end of the current war against the armed group Hezbollah."
"JERUSALEM, March 31 (Reuters) - Israel will destroy all homes in Lebanese villages near the border and 600,000 people who fled the south will not be allowed home until northern Israel is secure, the defence minister said on Tuesday, vowing to inflict Gaza-like destruction in the area.
Israel Katz reiterated Israeli plans to establish a buffer zone in southern Lebanon, saying that it would maintain control over a swathe of territory up to the Litani River once the war with the Iran-backed Hezbollah group ended."
The sovereignity of foreign states and there territorial integrity according to international law.
"Under present international law, annexation no longer constitutes a legally admissible mode of acquisition of territory as it violates the prohibition of the threat or use of force (Use of Force, Prohibition of). Therefore annexations must not be recognized as legal."
Sovereignity isn't infallible, and Israel has a very clear Article 51 argument due to Hezbollah's attacks.
As long as it's temporary (even if the end date isn't clear yet), it's an occupation, not an annexation. Occupations can certainly be legal if necessary for self-defense.
The actual solution would be to enforce UNSC 1701 and disarm Hezbollah. Until that finally happens, Israel has no choice but to respond to cross-border terrorist attacks.
Israel is instructing civilians to leave the areas where there is fighting as is their responsibility under international law. When Hezbollah is disarmed by Lebanon and the war is over they can return.
It's been the case in all the previous wars fought in Lebanon.
The question is why do people keep falling for the arguments against Israel when clearly Israel was attacked from Lebanon, is not attacking any neighbor that does not attack it, and is responding just like any other normal country would when it is attacked.
That's a very nice precedent, any country that has IDF soldiers holidaying as tourists must take note. Go and have your legal combat kill of a idf military combatant.
I think you might be the one falling for propaganda, my friend. Hamas is evil. Hezbollah is evil. Their behavior is indefensible.
Responding by leveling the homes of millions of civilians, holding people in an open air prison. Limiting food, water, and medicine, killing journalists, building an apartheid state, systematically using rape as a means of controlling prisoners, deploying white phosphorus on civilian populations.... these are not just or reasonable responses.
Israel's actions are truly horrifying in scale. The violence aimed at civilians, the systemic abuse of people just trying to survive on subsistence.
I'm not falling for any arguments. I'm simply observing what Israel is doing and saying, "this is truly awful. The scale of misery they are deploying against their enemies is unconscionable."
This time the tone is different in Lebanon. The things they say point to an occupation of the south and that shia are not gonna be welcome back any time soon.
The Pentagon e.g. would be a legitimate target for Iran and if in their operations against the US they know that your neighborhood is a military target then they can and should warn you and allow you to leave. I doubt that the US military stores rockets in your basement but if they are then that would be a concern. That said if you were in range of Iran's rockets I don't think they'd worry much about e.g. firing cluster munitions on Washington DC like they do on Tel Aviv or Israeli cities.
The person you are replying to is probably someone who won't understand that the genocide Israel is perpetrating, the settler colonialism, the systemic abuses and torture and rape of prisoners, the invasion are all justified somehow.
Some people cannot take a step back and consider other perspectives, unfortunately.
Edit: see? Their response, "I like it"? This person is deeply troubled and misanthropic.
Given the level of bloodthirst in Israeli society currently, and the accounts of torture of Palestinians in Israeli custody, I’m afraid that something similar is just around the corner for Lebanese as well.
It was the incessant attempts by Israel to invade Lebanon and the inaction of the Lebanese government but I guess your answer responds to your underlying allegiances.
Because of the constant invasion and denial of recognition of the West Bank and Gaza as Palestinian and after decades of pogroms and ethnic cleansing of Palestinian villages.
Is Israel firing into Christian neighborhoods? I think I saw something saying they were not. That seems consistent with Israel’s strikes being intended to target Hezbollah specifically (because Hezbollah launched rockets into Israel at the outset of the military operation in Iran).
“Lebanese Maronite Catholic priest Fr. Pierre al-Rahi, … was killed in this village in southern Lebanon during an Israeli artillery tank fire on a house March 9, 2026 … al-Rahi had earlier refused, along with other priests, to obey an order by the Israeli military to evacuate the Christian village of Qlayaa”
That's an exception that proves the rule. For the most part Israel is not firing at either Sunni or Christian villages. There is also more to this specific incident so people should research it.
Interesting, based on your comment Hezbollah did that from Lebanese territories for no reason.
"Lebanese armed group Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel in response to the United States-Israeli war on Iran. Israeli forces have also launched a ground invasion of southern Lebanon."
And they are also using humans as shield? Is it only the enemies of Israel that use human shields or do criminals/terrorists in Israel (if there is such a thing) or any other country do that too?
> The displacement is due to Israel's warning to civilians to leave the area of fighting for their protection
Most modern instances of ethnic cleansing are justified as military necessities.
E.g.: Armenian genocide
“Article 1—During war time, army and corp commanders and their deputies and commanders of fortified posts are obliged to destroy any assault or resistance and violently restore order with military forces in the case of opposition, armed attacks or resistance directed against the government orders, the defense of homeland and the preservation of public order.
Article 2—Army, independent corp and division commanders are allowed to transfer and relocate the village and town population in matters related to the military affair or if they feel there is an activity of espionage and treason.”
Hasn't Hawala been a thing in Lebanon for hundreds of years? It doesn't seem like a novel development at all, besides the digital tools. Informal money transfer systems are not new thing challenging the banks at all. The banks are the new thing here.
a) Rise of alternate forms of organizing trust. People distrust government or other organizations, and turn to alternative forms of organization and trust.
b) Rise of digital wallet/transfer systems that are fundamentally about charging for throughput/withdrawals. The article mentions that banks are restricting withdraws - presumably because banks need deposits to stay liquid. Whish on the other hand doesn't care - it makes money as a % of each transaction.
Since most people won't know: the reason this crisis is developing is because of how hezbollah behaved last time.
These people are Syrian immigrants (largely), pretend to be Shi'a muslims (but aren't), and have moved to Southern Libanon, decades ago, throwing out (and worse) the original (Christian) population, because they were paid to do so. Then in the last war they ran away from the south, to avoid fighting, and they were largely welcomed into Beirut, especially southern Beirut, many taken in by Christians and Sunni (partially because they had money and Lebanon was in a deep crisis). Then a lot of them never left, threw the people who had taken them in out of their own homes. They simply stole the apartments of people who took them in, then chased inhabitants out of entire blocks.
This time, neighbors sometimes literally attack anybody tries to help these people, and chase the refugees away, for fear of a repeat.
The result is, of course, a deep typical middle eastern crisis. Deep misery. Money is deeply involved, corruption is everywhere. Nobody, especially not the people who are now in deep trouble, are innocent. And there is no real solution, nor is anybody interested in providing a solution.
Iran's islamist regime is directly responsible for this crisis, through giving these people money and weapons, but of course they are not available to resolve anything (and that's NOT because the US is attacking them, yes that's a problem, but it's not like they would help anyone if they were doing fine)
71 comments
Src》https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yx8knpr5no
"JERUSALEM, March 31 (Reuters) - Israel will destroy all homes in Lebanese villages near the border and 600,000 people who fled the south will not be allowed home until northern Israel is secure, the defence minister said on Tuesday, vowing to inflict Gaza-like destruction in the area. Israel Katz reiterated Israeli plans to establish a buffer zone in southern Lebanon, saying that it would maintain control over a swathe of territory up to the Litani River once the war with the Iran-backed Hezbollah group ended."
Src》https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-destroy-all...
I wish it wasn't like this but there's no point in not facing reality
"Under present international law, annexation no longer constitutes a legally admissible mode of acquisition of territory as it violates the prohibition of the threat or use of force (Use of Force, Prohibition of). Therefore annexations must not be recognized as legal."
Src》https://opil.ouplaw.com/display/10.1093/law:epil/97801992316...
Put simply: You must not just build a buffer zone on someone elses territory. (You of course can build one on you own as you wish)
As long as it's temporary (even if the end date isn't clear yet), it's an occupation, not an annexation. Occupations can certainly be legal if necessary for self-defense.
The actual solution would be to enforce UNSC 1701 and disarm Hezbollah. Until that finally happens, Israel has no choice but to respond to cross-border terrorist attacks.
The question is why do people keep falling for the arguments against Israel when clearly Israel was attacked from Lebanon, is not attacking any neighbor that does not attack it, and is responding just like any other normal country would when it is attacked.
> Israel … is not attacking any neighbor that does not attack it
Incorrect.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_attack_on_Doha
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_airstrike_on_the_Irani...
Responding by leveling the homes of millions of civilians, holding people in an open air prison. Limiting food, water, and medicine, killing journalists, building an apartheid state, systematically using rape as a means of controlling prisoners, deploying white phosphorus on civilian populations.... these are not just or reasonable responses.
Israel's actions are truly horrifying in scale. The violence aimed at civilians, the systemic abuse of people just trying to survive on subsistence.
I'm not falling for any arguments. I'm simply observing what Israel is doing and saying, "this is truly awful. The scale of misery they are deploying against their enemies is unconscionable."
Some people cannot take a step back and consider other perspectives, unfortunately.
Edit: see? Their response, "I like it"? This person is deeply troubled and misanthropic.
So by your logic it is fair game to attack Lebanon due to its treatment of prisoners?
Lebanon also commits war crimes by firing rockets indiscriminately into Israeli population centers.
Why is your rage so selective?
> Israel isn’t … abusing and torturing Lebanese.
Israeli-backed army ran a torture center in south Lebanon for years.
https://www.hrw.org/news/1999/10/27/israel-responsible-abuse...
Given the level of bloodthirst in Israeli society currently, and the accounts of torture of Palestinians in Israeli custody, I’m afraid that something similar is just around the corner for Lebanese as well.
But Lebanon and other Arab countries still routines arbitrarily imprison and torture their citizens.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/06/26/lebanon-enforce-anti-tor...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_insurgency_in_Sout...
> Is Israel firing into Christian neighborhoods?
Yes.
“Lebanese Maronite Catholic priest Fr. Pierre al-Rahi, … was killed in this village in southern Lebanon during an Israeli artillery tank fire on a house March 9, 2026 … al-Rahi had earlier refused, along with other priests, to obey an order by the Israeli military to evacuate the Christian village of Qlayaa”
https://www.ncronline.org/news/lebanese-maronite-catholic-pr...
This article references at least three Christian villages that were recently attacked.
Qlayaa, priest killed by shelling
Debil, dozen homes blown up over past couple of days alone
Alma al-Shaab, where an another priest says his brother was killed in an air strike a couple of days ago.
This article references 4 more:
https://nowlebanon.com/israeli-strikes-on-christian-villages...
“Aitou (is) the latest in a series of strikes on Christian-majority villages. Ehmej, Mayrouba, and Qatarba have been other recent targets”
That’s a total of 7 that I found in like 5 minutes of Kagi search of English language news.
I think they are hardly disciplined here.
"Lebanese armed group Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel in response to the United States-Israeli war on Iran. Israeli forces have also launched a ground invasion of southern Lebanon."
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/4/5/at-least-14-people-k...
> Israel's self defense actions
> this is a war crime
Wow-wow just stop that bs. Without israel that region would be much safer.
> The displacement is due to Israel's warning to civilians to leave the area of fighting for their protection
Most modern instances of ethnic cleansing are justified as military necessities.
E.g.: Armenian genocide
“Article 1—During war time, army and corp commanders and their deputies and commanders of fortified posts are obliged to destroy any assault or resistance and violently restore order with military forces in the case of opposition, armed attacks or resistance directed against the government orders, the defense of homeland and the preservation of public order.
Article 2—Army, independent corp and division commanders are allowed to transfer and relocate the village and town population in matters related to the military affair or if they feel there is an activity of espionage and treason.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temporary_Law_of_Deportation
a) Rise of alternate forms of organizing trust. People distrust government or other organizations, and turn to alternative forms of organization and trust.
b) Rise of digital wallet/transfer systems that are fundamentally about charging for throughput/withdrawals. The article mentions that banks are restricting withdraws - presumably because banks need deposits to stay liquid. Whish on the other hand doesn't care - it makes money as a % of each transaction.
These people are Syrian immigrants (largely), pretend to be Shi'a muslims (but aren't), and have moved to Southern Libanon, decades ago, throwing out (and worse) the original (Christian) population, because they were paid to do so. Then in the last war they ran away from the south, to avoid fighting, and they were largely welcomed into Beirut, especially southern Beirut, many taken in by Christians and Sunni (partially because they had money and Lebanon was in a deep crisis). Then a lot of them never left, threw the people who had taken them in out of their own homes. They simply stole the apartments of people who took them in, then chased inhabitants out of entire blocks.
This time, neighbors sometimes literally attack anybody tries to help these people, and chase the refugees away, for fear of a repeat.
The result is, of course, a deep typical middle eastern crisis. Deep misery. Money is deeply involved, corruption is everywhere. Nobody, especially not the people who are now in deep trouble, are innocent. And there is no real solution, nor is anybody interested in providing a solution.
Iran's islamist regime is directly responsible for this crisis, through giving these people money and weapons, but of course they are not available to resolve anything (and that's NOT because the US is attacking them, yes that's a problem, but it's not like they would help anyone if they were doing fine)