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A senior rabbi has called for Israel to conquer Lebanon and settle the south of the country, as Israel’s deadly attacks on its northern neighbour continue.

In a letter published on Wednesday, American-Israeli Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh said that “the enemy must be struck with full force” and justified the killing of all members of the Iran-backed Lebanese movement Hezbollah, the Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post reported.

Ginsburgh claimed that Lebanon was part of the “Land of Israel” and was “given to the Jewish people by God”.

"Today it is clear that the time has come to conquer the Lebanese territories as well, only in this way can the threat be removed and true peace brought to the entire country,” he wrote.

He added that the Lebanese population should be expelled and Jews should settle the country.

“After the conquest and expulsion of the hostile population, a Jewish settlement must be established, thus completing the victory.”

Ginsburgh’s comments come amid a ferocious Israeli assault on Lebanon which escalated last Monday and has so far killed over 700 people, including Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.

Israeli ministers such as Avigdor Lieberman have called for the occupation of southern Lebanon while a new Israeli organisation, Uri Tzafon, has been formed to push for settlement in the area.

The group was formed last March and says that settlement of southern Lebanon will bring “true and stable security to northern Israel” while allowing Israel to reclaim its “biblical borders”.

It currently has around three thousand members of its WhatsApp forums, according to the US magazine Jewish Currents.

The group has put up posters in northern Israel calling for settlement of Lebanon, and in its Whatsapp groups its members suggest new Hebrew names for Lebanese towns and villages.

It has also sent balloons to southern Lebanon containing threatening messages, such as “Caution! This is the Land of Israel that belongs to Jews. You must evacuate it immediately.” 

A map of southern Lebanon with Lebanese towns and villages south of the Litani River given Hebrew place names

Israeli leaders in the past have expressed designs on southern Lebanon, and much of the area was occupied by Israel and its proxy forces between 1978 and 2000. Israel’s first prime minister David Ben-Gurion said in 1948 that Israel’s northern frontier should be on the Litani River.