Influential Netanyahu ally advocates 'empty buffer zone' in southern Lebanon
A key ally of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has proposed the creation of an "empty" buffer zone in southern Lebanon.
Writing in Israel Hayom, an outlet traditionally supportive of Netanyahu, former national security advisor Meir Ben-Shabbat said that emptying the border area in Lebanon of people would be one way to ensure that residents in northern Israel can return home without facing attacks.
"The advantage of this alternative is the relatively low costs of enforcement and the fact that it can be made possible on a routine basis without serious dilemmas," he wrote.
"Another advantage of it is in the message it conveys: that terrorism against Israel causes a loss of territory."
Since October 2023 at least 60,000 Israelis have been evacuated from the north following cross-border fire between the army and Hezbollah.
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Israeli officials have stated that a key aim of their assault on Lebanon, which has claimed more than 1,900 lives, was to return those evacuated to their homes.
Ben-Shabbat conceded that the main drawback to his buffer zone plan would be that it would provide a "constant pretext for military and political friction" but that nevertheless it was the "best alternative" available.
His comments come after eight Israeli soldiers were killed in combat with Hezbollah in south Lebanon.
Three of those killed were commanders, while seven other soldiers are critically wounded.
Hezbollah clashed with Israeli troops infiltrating the southern Lebanese border town of Maroun al-Ras, after earlier pushing back an attempted infiltration elsewhere.
The group destroyed three Israeli Merkava tanks with guided missiles as they approached near the town, it said in a statement.
In a separate statement it said that several Israeli troops were killed and wounded in combat in both Maroun al-Ras and Odaissah, where its fighters fought off an incursion by Israeli infantry soldiers in the morning, forcing them to retreat.
Sky News Arabia quoted an Israeli source as saying that 14 Israeli soldiers were killed in battle on Wednesday.
The Lebanese army said in a statement that Israeli forces breached the demarcation line between Lebanon and Israel, known as the Blue Line, moving around 400 metres into Lebanese territory, and then withdrew a short time later.
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