The mayor of Lebanon's Rmeish on Sunday denied Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's claims that Christian towns in the south had asked to join Israel.
"As part of verifying the veracity of these allegations, the Factcheck - Lebanon team at the Ministry of Information contacted the mayor of Ramish Hanna, the client, who categorically denied the veracity of Netanyahu's statements," the National News Agency said, stressing that the news was "untrue," and that none of the southern towns asked for what he claimed.
Hanna added that the mere thought of such a matter is "completely out of the question," pointing out that "15 Christian towns had issued a statement denying these allegations, stressing that these towns are not parties, but the heart of Lebanon, which is beating with patriotism, clinging to the land, and the Lebanese identity."
The mayor of Rmeish expressed his "surprise that these allegations have been recirculated, despite the fact that there has been a clear and explicit denial from the towns concerned."
In a statement on Friday, the towns stressed that the people of the border villages "adhere to the Lebanese state and its legitimacy (...) They are proud of their national affiliation (...) and do not see an alternative to their Lebanese identity."
Netanyahu's Statements
Earlier on Sunday, the Israeli prime minister said that some Christian villages in southern Lebanon had "requested to be annexed" to Israel in order to be protected from Hezbollah elements.
Speaking to Fox News' "The Sunday Briefing," Netanyahu said, "The Christian villages in Lebanon, some of which have actually asked to be annexed to Israel, because we protect [their residents] from Hezbollah, from Hezbollah extremists who want to kill them, and we do the same with Christians everywhere." Netanyahu did not name the Christian villages he said had asked to be annexed to Israel.
Since the outbreak of the war, some Christian villages in southern Lebanon have been subjected to artillery shelling and Israeli airstrikes, prompting their residents to flee.
However, the residents of most of these towns remained in the area despite Israeli eviction warnings, preferring to stay to protect their homes, churches and agricultural land, but a number of them were partially or completely evacuated.
During the war, the Israeli army warned several towns where Christians make up the majority of their inhabitants to not allow "strangers" to enter, referring to Hezbollah elements, through telephone calls made by Israeli forces with the mayors and local officials of these villages.
In a separate speech at an official event on Sunday, Netanyahu reiterated that the Israeli army would remain in southern Lebanon "as long as it is necessary to protect the residents of the north and all citizens of Israel."
IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir said on Sunday during a visit to soldiers deployed in the vicinity of Qalaat al-Shukif in southern Lebanon that "the IDF will continue to work decisively to remove threats from Lebanese territory, and is ready to move quickly to offensive operations if the ceasefire is violated."
Relationship with Trump
During his interview with Fox News, Netanyahu also addressed reports of disagreements between him and US President Donald Trump over the memorandum of understanding that stopped the war with Iran. "We have an excellent relationship, and it is defined, as I said, between two allies," Netanyahu said.
"We have the same view 99 percent, but as in any family, in any close friendship, sometimes there are differences of opinion, and we discuss them openly (...) We usually solve them too."
Netanyahu's statement came a day after Trump told the Axios news site that the Israeli prime minister "knows who the leader is" in their relationship.
Trump has repeatedly criticized Netanyahu in recent weeks during negotiations over the memorandum of understanding with Iran, accusing him of not being "grateful" to the United States, and calling him a "very difficult man" and "crazy" over Israel's escalation in Lebanon. Speaking to Axios, Trump indicated that Netanyahu may visit the White House in the coming days.
Comments (0)