Netanyahu warns Lebanon of ‘destruction like Gaza’
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called on the Lebanese populace to remove Hezbollah from power to prevent the “destruction and suffering like that witnessed in Gaza.”
His statement on Tuesday coincided with Israel’s intensified military operations against Hezbollah, involving the deployment of thousands of additional troops to a new area in southwestern Lebanon.
The Israeli military reported the death of 50 Hezbollah fighters in airstrikes conducted on Monday.
According to the Lebanese health ministry, Israeli attacks over the last 24 hours have resulted in 36 fatalities and 150 injuries.
In retaliation, Hezbollah has launched rocket barrages toward the Israeli port city of Haifa for the third consecutive day, injuring 12 individuals.
In a video address aimed at the Lebanese people, Netanyahu stated: “You have an opportunity to save Lebanon before it descends into the abyss of a prolonged war, leading to destruction and suffering as we see in Gaza. I urge you, the people of Lebanon: liberate your country from Hezbollah so that this war can come to an end.”
Netanyahu also claimed that the Israel Defense Forces had eliminated the successor to Hezbollah’s former leader, Hassan Nasrallah. However, the IDF later indicated that it could not confirm the death of Hashem Safieddine.
Despite facing three weeks of intense Israeli airstrikes and other assaults, which Lebanese officials report have killed over 1,400 people and displaced around 1.2 million, Hezbollah has remained resolute. Earlier on Tuesday, Naim Qassem, Nasrallah’s former deputy, asserted that Hezbollah had weathered the recent “painful blows” from Israel and that its capabilities were still “intact.”
Israel has gone on the offensive after almost a year of cross-border fighting sparked by the war in Gaza, saying it wants to ensure the safe return of tens of thousands of residents of Israeli border areas displaced by Hezbollah rocket, missile, and drone attacks.
The hostilities have escalated steadily since Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel in support of Palestinians on 8 October 2023, the day after its ally Hamas’s deadly attack on southern Israel.
On Tuesday morning, the IDF announced that reservists from its 146th Division had begun “limited, localized, targeted operational activities” in southwestern Lebanon.
It joined three standing army divisions that have been operating in central and eastern areas of southern Lebanon since the invasion began on 30 September – reportedly bringing the total number of soldiers deployed to over 15,000.
The IDF said troops had taken control of what it called a Hezbollah “combat compound” in the border village of Maroun al-Ras and published photos showing what it said was a loaded rocket launcher in an olive grove, as well as weapons and equipment inside a residential building.
Drone footage meanwhile showed widespread destruction in the nearby village of Yaroun, which was an initial target of the invasion.
Meanwhile, the UN special coordinator for Lebanon and the head of the UN peacekeeping force warned in a joint statement that the humanitarian impact of the conflict was “nothing short of catastrophic”.
Lebanon’s government says as many as 1.2 million people have fled their homes over the past year. Almost 180,000 people are in approved centers for the displaced.
In addition, more than 400,000 people have fled into war-torn Syria, including more than 200,000 Syrian refugees – a situation that the head of the UN’s refugee agency described as one of “tragic absurdity”.
The World Food Programme said there was “extraordinary concern for Lebanon’s ability to continue to feed itself” because thousands of hectares of farmland had been burned or abandoned.
The IDF also said its aircraft had carried out a new round of strikes on Hezbollah targets in Beirut’s southern suburbs, where the group has a strong presence, and other areas of Lebanon on Tuesday.
Earlier, it announced that a strike in the capital on Monday had killed the commander of Hezbollah’s headquarters, Suhail Husseini.
Hezbollah did not comment on the claim. But if confirmed, it would be the latest in a series of severe blows Israel has dealt to the group, with Hassan Nasrallah and most of its military commanders having been killed in similar recent strikes.
Hashem Safieddine, a top Hezbollah official widely expected to succeed his cousin Nasrallah as leader, has not been heard from publicly since an Israeli air strike reportedly targeted him in Beirut last Thursday.
IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said on Tuesday evening the military could not confirm claims by Netanyahu and Israel’s defense minister that Safieddine was killed in the attack, adding that the IDF was examining the results of the operation.
Hezbollah’s deputy leader said in a defiant televised address from an undisclosed location on Tuesday that its command and control was “solid” and had “no vacant positions”, citing its attacks on Israel in recent days.
“We are hurting them and we will prolong the time. Dozens of cities are within range of the resistance’s missiles. We assure you that our capabilities are fine,” Naim Qassem said.
But, for the first time, he made no mention of ending the war in Gaza as a pre-condition whereas previously Hezbollah has said it would not stop attacking Israel until the Gaza conflict is over.
“We support the political efforts that (Lebanese Parliament Speaker) Nabih Berri is undertaking towards a ceasefire,” Qassem said in a televised speech.
“Once a ceasefire is achieved, diplomacy can look into all the other details.”
It was not clear if this meant a change in Hezbollah’s position.
The speech coincided with the launch of more than 100 rockets towards Haifa Bay, as well as the Lower, Central, and Upper Galilee regions.
The IDF said most of the rockets were intercepted. There were no serious casualties.
On Sunday night, there was a direct hit on Haifa – something which had not happened since Israel and Hezbollah last fought a war in 2006.
