A pair of Israeli ministers has let slip the ugly reality that its war in Lebanon is really a population war, just like its war against Gaza. Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli, a member of Likud, has called for the “Shi’a enemy population” of Lebanon to be kept away from the border of Israel, Middle East Eye reported yesterday.
Writing on X, Chikli said “even though it has a flag and even though it has political institutions,” Lebanon “does not meet the definition of a country.” He also posted images of maps questioning the current borders of Syria and Lebanon, referencing the Sykes-Picot agreement of 1916 that carved up the Levant into British and French spheres of influence. “A renewed buffer zone, free of enemy population is the order of the hour and it is the right and most just thing to do both from a security point of view, both from a political and moral point of view.”
