Israel has lost effective sovereignty in the northern part of the country, thanks to constant Hezbollah projectile fire that has led to the evacuation of tens of thousands of Israelis, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday.
The Times of Israel reported:
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says that Israel “has effectively lost sovereignty in the northern quadrant of its country because people don’t feel safe to go to their homes.”
In an on-stage interview at the Brookings Institution, Blinken reiterates his belief that Israel does not want a war in Lebanon, but admits that “they may well be prepared to engage in one if necessary — from their perspective — to protect their interests.”
He says that Hezbollah does not actually want a war, that Lebanon does not want one either because it would be the primary victim; and that Iran does not want a war because it would prefer to save Hezbollah for a scenario in which it has a direct conflict with Israel.
The Biden administration’s attempts to mediate have reportedly included proposals that would require Israel to withdraw from the strategic Har Dov region, part of which is within Israeli territory and which allows a commanding perspective on Israel’s entire northern region.
Hezbollah recently placed tents in the Har Dov region in an attempt to encroach on the territory and to push Israel back from defending its own border region.
Ironically, Hezbollah maintains a presence in the area in violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1707 of 2006, which bars the Iranian-backed group from occupying Lebanon south of the Litani River, several kilometers north.
Breitbart News has visited empty towns near the Israel-Lebanon border, on the Israeli side. Many Israelis, while preferring diplomacy, have become convinced that only war will push Hezbollah back from the border.
Some Israeli military experts believe that Israel would have to take over southern Lebanon, up to the Litani, in any war with Hezbollah. The river is a natural boundary; the current border leaves Lebanon in possession of much of the high ground along the border, with Israeli communities at lower elevations in the mountainous region.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now available on Audible. He is also the author of the e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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