Lebanese officials have rejected claims made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Christian villages in south Lebanon asked to be annexed by Israel.
“Whatever he says, we've never asked anyone for protection,” Joseph Attieh, the mayor of Debel, told The National.
The Israeli Prime Minister on Sunday claimed some Christian villages in the south had asked to be annexed so they would be protected from Hezbollah. “Christian villages in Lebanon, some of them have actually asked to be annexed to Israel, because we protect them against Hezbollah, Hezbollah fanatics who want to kill them, and we do the same things with Christians everywhere,” he told Fox News.
But the mayor of Debel countered and said: “We have the Lebanese state and we will stay Lebanese.”
Officials in Rmeish, another largely Christian town, also rejected Mr Netanyahu's statement, while local authorities from more than a dozen southern Lebanese border villages described Mr Netanyahu's allegations as “fabricated and not related to reality”.
The Christian-majority villages of Debel, Rmeish and Ain Ebel have largely been spared the destruction wrought in other areas in the south into which Israeli forces have advanced.
The Lebanese Armed Forces – underfunded, underequipped and rendered impotent by circumstances beyond its control – is unable to defend itself or the civilians who have chosen to stay in their home villages. The army withdrew from positions near the southern communities in April.
Residents here have relied largely on aid convoys delivering food, medicine and hygiene kits.
The Israeli military has shown no intention of immediately withdrawing from the dozens of towns it occupies in south Lebanon or its forward positions, which reach into the suburbs of Nabatieh, despite a ceasefire and several diplomatic tracks under way.
Israel invaded and occupied an area covering about 7 per cent of southern Lebanon during the war, razing many border villages as part of what it described as a “security zone” to protect communities in northern Israel.
Throughout the war, many Christian villages have endured Israeli attacks and forced displacement orders. The Israeli military has also warned several Christian-majority villages against allowing outsiders to enter, inciting sectarian fears among communities and marginalising displaced families.
In a separate speech at a state ceremony on Sunday, Mr Netanyahu reiterated that Israeli troops would stay in south Lebanon for “as long as necessary” while Israeli army chief Gen Eyal Zamir visited forces stationed near Beaufort Castle.
