The Litani River

Israel is on the brink of a full scale land invasion of Lebanon, Israel is currently bombing Lebanon and the Israeli army has told Lebanese civilians “to remain north of the Litani River” which is located 20 miles north of the Israel-Lebanon border. Sky news reports that “the Litani River would act as a buffer zone between Hezbollah and Israel.”

Before and after the establishment of the state of Israel zionists recognised the Litani (sometimes spelt Litany) River as an important water resource and have wanted to include it within Israels borders

At the 1919 Peace conference held in Paris the World Zionist Organisation proposed this territory for a future Jewish state.

The map includes all of what is now Israel, the West Bank and Gaza strip and a large part of Lebanese territory up to Sidon about 18 miles north of the Litani, it also includes parts of Egypt, Jordan and Syria.

In 1920 the Evening Mail reports that “Great interest attaches as to whether the northern frontier of Palestine includes Tyre to the Litany which the Zionists are anxious to obtain”

Also in 1920 The (London) Daily News reported that “Jewish zionists….are much alarmed by the French revival of the Sykes-Picot treaty, which draws a line cutting off Palestine from the Litany River……and so destroying the entire system of proposed irrigation necessary to the repopulation of the country”. Adding that James Balfour - who issued the Balfour declaration in 1917 - “is understood to sympathise with this view”.

Although by the end of the year the Civil & Military Gazette was quoting The Times as saying “There will be no territorial expansion of Palestine towards….the Litani River”.

However in May 1948 David Ben-Gurion, Israels first prime minister, still wanted the Litani as Israels northern border saying to his General Staff ”we should prepare to go over to the offensive with the aim of smashing Lebanon…..A Christian state should be established, with its southern border on the Litani River”.

It is a valid argument that what stopped Israel from taking Lebanese land up too and beyond the Litani in 1948 was the invasion by Arab armies when Israel declared independence. (This invasion may also have prevented Israel from taking other territories from its neighbours.)

Whenever Israel has taken land from its neighbours it has built settlements. In 1967 Israel invaded and occupied the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights and the West Bank, in each of these territories Israel built settlements although the settlements in Gaza and Sinai were later abandoned. 

After Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982 it eventually withdrew to what it called a ‘Security Zone’ along the border. Hezbollah (which only came into existence after the invasion), the Israeli army and its Christian ally the South Lebanon Army, were involved in frequent skirmishes in the occupied area.

What would have happened if Israel had not met any resistance from Hezbollah and other groups in south Lebanon? The ambition may well have have been the eventual expulsion of most or all of the Lebanese population from an area south and possibly north of the Litani River, the building of settlements in that same area and its eventual annexation by Israel.