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Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich Calls for Annexation of Southern Lebanon

HeadlineMar 24, 2026

In Lebanon, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz says his forces will establish a so-called security zone stretching to the Litani River, cutting off Lebanon’s south from the rest of the country, while indefinitely displacing hundreds of thousands of residents who’ve been ordered to evacuate their homes. On Monday, Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Israel should annex southern Lebanon, with the Litani River as Israel’s new northern border. Meanwhile, there’s been no letup in Israeli airstrikes. Earlier today, Israel bombed a residential apartment in the capital Beirut, killing at least three people, including a 3-year old girl. Israel also blew up a bridge in the western Beqaa Valley. This is Ali Attar, a local official who survived an Israeli strike on the town of Chaat.

Ali Attar: “After fasting, we were having dinner. All we heard was a strike, a huge boom and the roar of aircraft. It left. We went outside to see what had happened. When we got here, we found people collecting body parts from the building. The building had nothing in it, nothing at all, except civilians living there.”

Lebanon’s Health Ministry reports Israeli attacks have killed more than 1,000 people in Lebanon since early March. More than 1 million people are displaced.

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