Far-right Israeli minister calls for Lebanon to be sent back to 'stone age'

The far-right Israel Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, which is also a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet, said on Monday that Israel should set up a security zone that extends into southern Lebanon.

Writing on social media site X, Smotrich said that "the new strategy being spearheaded by the war cabinet is going up in flames for hours and blowing up in our faces. A year ago, the defense minister said that we will send Lebanon back to the Stone Age. Mr. Prime Minister, Mr. Defense Minister, Mr. Chief of Staff: That time has come".