While the Middle East is on the verge of widespread war, Benjamin Netanyahu does not intend to lay down his arms. The Israeli Prime Minister even threatened on Tuesday the Lebanese of suffering “destructions” like in Gaza if they did not “liberate” their country from Hezbollah.
On the first anniversary of the deadly Hamas attack on Israeli territory on October 7, 2023, Benjamin Netanyahu had already promised on Monday to continue the fight until victory against Lebanese Hezbollah and Hamas, both supported by Iran .
Lebanon threatened with “suffering”
“Liberate your country from Hezbollah,” he launched Tuesday in a video message in English addressed to the Lebanese, threatening otherwise Lebanon would experience “destruction and suffering like those we see in Gaza,” where he Israeli army has been carrying out an offensive for a year which has left tens of thousands dead.
“We have eliminated (Hassan) Nasrallah”, the leader of Hezbollah killed on September 27 in an Israeli strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut “and the replacement of Nasrallah and the replacement of his replacement”, added the Prime Minister, without giving of names.
The Quai d’Orsay rises against Netanyahu
Already at odds with Tel Aviv, Paris did not at all appreciate this outing by the Israeli Prime Minister. “If this provocation were followed by effect, it would drag Lebanon, a country friendly to France which is already so fragile, into chaos. And this would pose even greater security problems for Israel than those which prevailed before the military operations in Lebanon,” warned Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, interviewed on France 2.
The Israeli army, engaged since September 30 in a ground offensive in southern Lebanon, announced Tuesday that a fourth division had begun to be deployed there and was carrying out “limited operations” against Hezbollah in the southwest of Lebanon. country, bordering the Mediterranean. At the same time, Israel carried out airstrikes on southern and eastern Lebanon, as well as the southern suburbs of Beirut, Hezbollah’s three strongholds.
Hezbollah and Hamas still active
Despite the blows inflicted on Hezbollah and Hamas, whose leader, Ismaïl Haniyeh, was also killed, these movements continue to fire rockets against Israel, bordering the south with the Gaza Strip and the north with Lebanon. “Our capabilities are good, contrary to what the enemy says who claims to have weakened us,” assured Naïm Qassem, Hezbollah’s number two.
Our file on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Since October 2023, more than 2,000 people have been killed in Lebanon, including more than 1,110 since the start of massive Israeli bombings against Hezbollah on September 23, according to a count based on official figures. More than a million people have been displaced.
