Officially, Israel's ground invasion of Lebanon is an “act of self-defense” against Hezbollah's threat, aimed at creating a security buffer zone until the arrival of a "multinational force with an enforcement capability". But increasingly, as the initial goal of a narrow strip of only a few kilometers has now been extended to the Litani River deep in Lebanon, the real motives behind Israel's invasion are becoming crystal-clear.
This is a war to annex a major chunk of Lebanese territory without necessarily saying so, under the pretext of security buffer and deterrence against future attacks on Israel.
Already, since the Six Day War, Israel has annexed the Sheba Farms, considered part of the Syrian Golan Heights. Now the Israeli army is sweeping the area south of the Litani River as a temporary occupation.
[If successful] this would put Israel in control of the Litani River, thus fulfilling Israel's founding fathers' dream, stretching back to Chaim Weizmann, head of the World Zionist Organization, who in 1919 declared the river "essential to the future of the Jewish national home".
Access to the Litani would translate into an annual increase of water supply by 800 million cubic meters. (This in turn might allow Israel to bargain with Syria over the Golan Heights, source of a full one-third of Israel's fresh water.)
[Excerpt of article by Kaveh L Afrasiabi, PhD]
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