The Israeli government's far-right senior official threatens to annex southern Lebanon.

Israeli Finance Minister and far-right political figure Smotrich threatened on March 23 that Israel should "extend its border with Lebanon to the Litani River in southern Lebanon." According to recent reports in the local media, Russian media journalists who were attacked by the Israeli military said that Israel is trying to separate southern Lebanon from the rest of the country and implement "ethnic cleansing" in the area.