Israel: Settler group advertises new properties in southern Lebanon
An Israeli settler group is promoting new properties for sale in southern Lebanon, as the Israeli army wages a bombing campaign in the country that has killed over 1000 people since mid-September.
Uri Tzafon, or the Movement for Settlement in Southern Lebanon’s website boasts spacious, light-filled apartments overlooking a swimming pool, with offers starting at 300,000 shekels ($80,000).
“After the elimination of the Hezbollah leadership…do you also dream of a big house, a view of snowy mountains and a warm community in the land of our ancestors?” the advert reads.
The extremist settler group emerged in March as a fringe movement to push for the settlement of southern Lebanon, which it said would bring “true and stable security to northern Israel” and enable the country to reclaim its “biblical borders.”
The group initially started with a few hundred members, since then its numbers have swelled, with its Whatsapp forums reportedly garnering around 3000 members.
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A statement on its website claims the settlement of southern Lebanon is “necessary for Israel’s security” and that “only an Israeli civilian presence will ensure stable control and prevent the area from becoming a terrorist stronghold”.
The movement's site recently published a map of southern Lebanon detailing at least 300 new settlements, with Lebanese villages and towns south of the Litani River rebranded with Hebrew names.
The group also sent balloons to the area emblazoned with messages threatening residents to “evacuate immediately” as “this is the land of Israel that belongs to the Jews”.
The movement’s founder, Professor Amos Azaria, told Middle East Eye that: “Having a proper border based on the Litani river, or the Zahrani [river], will not only allow proper control over the border, but will in fact shorten the border as it becomes more of a straight line.
“Since Hezbollah only cares about land and not about the number of soldiers killed, the only way to win is by building settlements,” he added.
In a letter published on Wednesday, senior rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh called for the conquest and settlement of southern Lebanon, saying that “the enemy must be struck with full force” and that Lebanon is part of the “Land of Israel” and was “given to the Jewish people by God”.
"Today it is clear that the time has come to conquer the Lebanese territories as well, only in this way can the threat be removed and true peace brought to the entire country. After the conquest and expulsion of the hostile population, a Jewish settlement must be established, thus completing the victory,” he wrote.
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