There is no ceasefire in Lebanon. That’s what IDF chief of staff Eyal Zamir said when he visited troops in southern Lebanon yesterday. Zamir’s comments came amid a reported push from Jerusalem to get the U.S. to limit its historic direct talks with the Lebanese government to a two-week timeframe, and to sign off on a large-scale IDF campaign against Hezbollah if the talks fail, reported [https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-chief-says-theres-no-ceasefire-in-south-lebanon-amid-continued-fighting-with-hezbollah/] the Times of Israel.
Zamir said that the IDF “will not tolerate” Hezbollah’s attacks, while adding that Israel will not leave the security buffer zone it holds in south Lebanon until the threat to Israel’s northern communities is removed. “In Lebanon, the mission assigned to us by the political echelon is to position ourselves along the line to prevent direct fire on the communities. We have achieved this; this is the line we are on. We may be required to remain on it,” Zamir said. “We will not tolerate attacks and fire on our communities, and we will not leave until long-term security for the northern communities is ensured,” he said, according to remarks published by the IDF.
Not mentioned is that if Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich gets his way, the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon will never end. Smotrich has spoken of annexing southern Lebanon to make part of Israel.
An indication of that is exposed in a report in Haaretz which cites Israeli soldiers saying that the IDF’s main mission in southern Lebanon right now is the “systematic destruction” of buildings rather than combat. “The only mission is to continue the destruction,” one commander told Haaretz. “There are no other tasks.”
