
Even with how expansionist Israel is I honestly didn’t expect an annexation attempt, but that’s what Finance Minister Smotrich is calling for, and it would be in line with the destruction of bridges. I didn’t expect it simply because Israel hasn’t tried to territorially annex Lebanon before. They’ve invaded, they’ve occupied, they’ve displaced, and they’ve backed Maronite proxies in the south. But I assumed that they wouldn’t attempt annexation due to their closeness to Maronite militias.
I suppose we will see what happens with Smolrich. Actual settlement might be too brazen even for this government. But they very clearly are trying to displace a massive number of people, and claim that will be until hezbollah is “no longer a threat” (which means possibly indefinitely)