Avigdor Lieberman’s call for Israel to reoccupy a portion of southern Lebanon is at the top of the news from the Middle East. During the weekly meeting of his Yisrael Beytenu party on Monday, the Times of Israel first reported, the former minister of defense of Israel said that Lebanon should “pay in territory” for the damage that Hezbollah has caused since October 7 with its rocket strikes on northern Israeli towns.

“It can’t be that there are entire towns where close to half of the buildings were simply destroyed,” Mr. Lieberman said. He added that the IDF should “close off” a part of southern Lebanon as a means of restraining the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group. It wants to keep Hezbollah, at least operationally, north of the Litani River.

“We will not annex anything, and we will not build settlements, but we will release the territory only when there is a government in Beirut that knows how to exercise its sovereignty,” Mr. Lieberman said, specifying that, in his view, “Everything between the Litani and Israel must be under the control of the IDF.”

The Israeli army established the South Lebanon Security Zone following the 1982 Lebanon war and, in what looks like an error of judgment, unilaterally withdrew from the zone, which rarely exceeded a width of more than about six miles, in 2000. While Mr. Lieberman’s secular, right-of-center party has been critical of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s handling of the war against Hamas, it is the evocation of Lebanon that is as inevitable, as it is likely to ruffle the most feathers in the fractious Middle East. 

The main purpose of establishing a security zone, Mr. Lieberman  suggested, would be to prevent anti-aircraft fire and the potential physical breach of the line of conflict, such as happened on October 7 along portions of Gaza’s border with Israel. Mr. Lieberman’s comments come as exchanges of fire have, since October 8, echoed between Hezbollah and the Israeli army along the Lebanese-Israeli border.

In his first speech after the war started, Hezbollah’s chief, Hassan Nasrallah, described his group’s offensive activities in the region as a “support front” for Hamas, its ally in a so-called axis of resistance. Tens of thousands of Israelis have already been evacuated from their homes in northern Israel, many having to stay in relatives’ homes or hotels, while those who remain say the Israeli government is not doing enough to ensure their safety by providing them with shelter.

According to reports in the Lebanese press, 137 Hezbollah members have been killed since the fighting began on October 8. More than 64,053 Lebanese have reportedly been displaced due to Hezbollah’s aggression. On Sunday Hezbollah’s deputy secretary general, Naim Qassem, stated that Israel “cannot move settlers north in the middle of a battle and will not gain any advantage from this fight,” adding that if “Tel Aviv does not end the war in Gaza so that hostilities in Lebanon cease … the response will be stronger and proportional to Israeli aggression.”

In his remarks Monday, Mr. Lieberman said that if a northern security zone should come to pass that Israel “would not annex anything or build settlements,” comparing his proposal to the military occupation of Germany after World War II. The proposal follows a similar suggestion made by the current Israeli defense minister, Yoav Gallant, that the IDF could push Hezbollah north of the Litani River as a means of allowing residents of northern Israel to safely return to their communities. 

Israel’s army spokesman, Daniel Hagari, in his New Year’s message, did not specifically mention Lebanon, but said that Israeli troops were prepared for “prolonged fighting” and that adaptations were being made. “These adaptations are designed to ensure planning and preparation for the continuation of 2024, as the IDF must plan ahead, understanding that we will be required for additional tasks and warfare throughout this year,” Mr. Hagari emphasized. 

The comments come at a time when Security Council Resolution 1701, intended to resolve the July 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel, is coming into sharper focus. It called for a total cessation of hostilities and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon to be replaced by Lebanese and Unifil forces in southern Lebanon.

In addition, the resolution called for the establishment of a demilitarized zone between the Blue Line — a de facto political demarcation between Israel and Lebanon — and the Litani River and the disarmament of “all armed groups” in Lebanon. Yet Hezbollah, which is a political as well as military force in Lebanon, never disarmed. Brazenly and with Iranian backing, it did the opposite.

Israel has warned, as recently as last month, that it “could no longer accept” Hezbollah on its border. American, British, and French officials have been quietly pressing Hezbollah to pull its terrorist fighters back from the northern frontier. For the time being, though, tensions are high and Resolution 1701 is scarcely worth the paper on which it was written.