Israeli minister announces illegal settlement plans in Lebanon, mass displacement of Palestinians

Israeli far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has announced that the Tel Aviv regime intends to establish illegal settlements in southern Lebanon while encouraging the mass displacement of Palestinians from the besieged Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank.

“We have more plans to encourage migration from Gaza, encourage migration from the West Bank, and promote settlement in Lebanon. We will not hesitate to eliminate anyone who rises up to kill us,” Ben-Gvir said at a Thursday event marking the anniversary of Israel’s occupation of East al-Quds.

The remarks come as the Israeli military aggressively seeks to seize additional land to redraw the borders of both Gaza and Lebanon.

On Thursday, Israeli regime’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted that Israel now controls around 60% of the Gaza Strip, significantly more than the area stipulated under last year’s ceasefire agreement.

“Today we control 60% of the Gaza Strip,” Netanyahu said.

Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim stated earlier that Israel has shifted the so-called “yellow line” westward by an additional 8–9%, bringing the total area under Israeli control to over 60% of the besieged strip.

Palestinian officials and human rights groups report that Israeli occupation forces have gradually pushed beyond the original demarcation line into deeper areas of Gaza, recently referred to in reports as the so-called “orange line.”

Israel’s Haaretz newspaper has confirmed that the current area under Israeli control exceeds the limits set by the ceasefire agreement that took effect in October 2025.

Hundreds more Palestinians have been killed as Israel continues its daily violations of the ceasefire in the blockaded Gaza Strip.

Since launching its genocidal war on the people of Gaza more than two years ago, the Tel Aviv regime has killed over 72,500 people.

Meanwhile, Israel has also repeatedly breached the truce in Lebanon, killing 2,896 people and injuring 8,824 others since March 2.

Tel Aviv regime forces have occupied at least five strategic locations and several border towns in southern Lebanon under the pretext of creating a so-called “buffer zone.”

In the same speech, Ben-Gvir boasted about the harsh new restrictions he has imposed on Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons, following the passage of legislation allowing the death penalty for Palestinian prisoners.

“Israeli prisons have become real prisons,” he said. “No jam or chocolate, no academic studies, no deposits, no television or radio. They are left with only the bare minimum.”

On March 30, the Israeli Knesset passed the controversial law by a vote of 62–48, with one abstention. The legislation permits death sentences by hanging for Palestinian prisoners who Israel accuses of carrying out or planning attacks that killed Israelis.

It also allows courts to impose the death penalty without a request from the prosecution and without requiring a unanimous judicial decision.

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has urged Israel to “immediately” repeal the law.

More than 9,600 Palestinian prisoners, including women and children, are currently held in Israeli jails, where they face systematic torture, starvation, and medical neglect that have already caused the deaths of dozens.

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