Lebanon · updated 35m ago · 3 min read
Israel Katz Threatens Security Zone Up To Litani River, Demolishes Border Villages
Israel to establish security zone up to the Litani River in southern Lebanon. Hundreds of thousands displaced; 600,000 residents barred from returning until northern Israel safety.
57 outlets, one story, no spin found.
12 of 13 outlets skipped it: lebanon is considering cash-for-rent and aid planning without camps.
57outlets compared
Katz sets security zone
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel would establish a security zone in southern Lebanon, maintain control up to the Litani River, and threaten that 600,000 residents of southern Lebanon would not be able to return until the safety of residents in northern Israel is guaranteed.
“threatening that 600,000 residents of southern Lebanon would not be able to return”
Katz also threatened that they would demolish all the houses in the border villages in Lebanon and said the Israeli occupation army would be stationed inside southern Lebanon in a security zone up to the Litani River.
The Lebanese News Agency reported Israeli warplanes carried out an airstrike on the town of al-Qantara and another strike targeted a car in the al-Qasmiyeh area, killing two and injuring three people.
The same report said there were airstrikes on al-Mansuri and al-Qulayla in the town of al-Haniya, artillery shelling occurred on Toulin, Qubriha, and Majdal Salim, and drones flew over Beirut and its suburbs at a low altitude.
It added that there were cases of asphyxia among Civil Defense and the Red Cross due to chlorine leaks after an attack on a water station in Marjayoun.
Displacement crisis and warnings
The UN warned Lebanon is facing a cycle of ‘coercive displacement’ as more than one million people flee Israeli air strikes and a widening ground invasion in the south, according to Al Jazeera’s report from downtown Beirut.
Heidi Pett’s segment described displaced people having nowhere to go, as the repercussions were felt in Beirut.
Lebanese social affairs minister Haneen Sayed told Reuters that long-term displacement is something the government is concerned about and that it is preparing for the possibility that hundreds of thousands displaced by Israeli strikes and evacuation orders will not return home in the long term.
Sayed said her ministry was trying to plan three months in advance to make sure that displaced families' basic needs were met, while Reuters reported that Katz said Israel would maintain control of southern Lebanon up to the Litani river and bar 600,000 residents who fled southern Lebanon from returning to their villages.
Humanitarian strain and funding
Human Rights Watch said Israeli attacks in Lebanon—and the threat of further attacks to come—have forced more than a million people to flee their homes, and warned that this could constitute a war crime.
“have forced more than a million people to flee their homes”
HRW said the laws of war state that civilians cannot be forced to leave their homes unless imperative military reasons require it or the safety of the population is threatened, and that war is not a license to evict people from their lands.
In Geneva, the International Organization for Migration said that since the beginning of March more than 130,000 people crossed the border to reach the Syrian Arab Republic and more than one million people were displaced inside Lebanon, citing its Displacement Tracking Matrix.
IOM Director General Amy Pope said “Sustained international support is essential to ensure that these people receive the protection and assistance they need, wherever they are.”
Reuters reported that Lebanon has received just $30 million from the U.N.'s latest appeal, with another $60 million committed by donors, and that only seven aid flights have arrived.