PULVERISING Gaza, emptying the Strip of its people, bombing the West Bank, and expanding illegal annexations of land there — none of that is enough for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his genocidal drive to build “Greater Israel.” Lebanon, too, it seems, must be parcelled up and pieces of it brought under Tel Aviv’s control.

Since the war on Gaza was launched by Israel following the October 7 2023 Hamas attacks, Lebanon has been a secondary theatre of combat, with periodic bombing runs by Israel and rocket launches from Iran-backed Hezbollah militants on the other side of the border.

But with the exploding pager terrorist attacks by Israel last week, a new stage has opened in what has become Israel’s region-wide war of conquest and expansion.