🔺Netanyahu: Some Christian villages in southern Lebanon have sought to join Israel ▪Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, said in an interview with Fox News that some Christian villages in southern Lebanon have asked to join Israel in order to benefit from Israeli protection against Lebanon’s Hezbollah. ▪Netanyahu said these villages are located near the Israel-Lebanon border, where Israeli forces continue to be present in parts of southern Lebanon. He did not name these villages, the timing of when such requests were made, or the routes through which they would be transferred. ▪The remarks were immediately met with a local response in Lebanon, and 15 Christian communities in southern Lebanon said in a statement that they do not have legal authority to make such a decision and that they are not separating from Lebanese identity and the Lebanese flag.