Wars are won by holding territory. The war raging in southern Lebanon is no different and this is why unlike the 2006 Lebanon war, the main goal in the beginning of the IDF’s current ground campaign in southern Lebanon is to get to the Litani River. By doing so and doing so quickly, the IDF will de facto hold all territory to the river’s south. True, they have to occupy villages nearer to the border of Israel, but the rest of them in between will not be dealt with in this phase.
The Shiite population of Southern Lebanon is not indigenous to the area. In fact, up until the 1970s Lebanon was a majority Christian country. It was only when the PLO lead by Yasser Arafat who invaded it after being decimated by Jordan and then the introduction by Hezbollah to fight Israel and its Christian allies that depleted it of its Christian majority. This is how the Shiites began to move into formerly Christian areas in southern Lebanon. And this is how Iran took over Lebanon - yes by displacing millions of Christians.
Israel’s announcements that residents of many villages in southern Lebanon (primarily Shiite Muslim Jihadists) should evacuate north of the Awali River is sending many of them running back to Syria, which is where they came from only years earlier. The Shiite villages on Israel’s border and south of the Litani River have been complicit in attacking Israel over the years. Many of the villages house Hezbollah fighters and serve as forward bases for the terror group and Iran.
The IDF continues to pour troops into southern Lebanon with 146th Reserve Division beginning its activities in central part of southern Lebanon. They joined three standing army divisions — the 98th, 36th, and 91st — already operating in the central and eastern sectors of southern Lebanon.
Removing the Shiite Occupation of southern Lebanon is key to returning the residents of northern Israel to their homes. So who will control southern Lebanon if the Shiites are no longer in charge there? Considering Lebanon is a failed state and the area is needed as a northern security buffer for Israel (as well as being part of historic biblically mandated Israel), it would seem entirely fair to allow freedom for all non-Shiites in southern Lebanon with Israel providing external security.
Like it or not - that’s where this is all going.