Israel – Lebanon | “Expel Hezbollah and avoid Gaza-like destruction”: Netanyahu’s harsh message to the Lebanese people

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the Lebanese people to expel Hezbollah and thus avoid “the destruction and suffering seen in Gaza”.

Netanyahu’s call on Tuesday came as Israel expanded its ground offensive against Hezbollah, sending thousands more troops into a new area of ​​southwestern Lebanon.

The president also claimed that Israel Defense Forces (IDF) killed the successor to former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, although he later clarified that they could not confirm the death. Hashem Saffieddin,

Separately, Hezbollah fighters fired several rounds of rockets at the Israeli port city of Haifa for the third consecutive day, wounding 12 people.

“You have an opportunity to save Lebanon before it falls into the abyss of a long war The destruction and suffering seen in GazaNetanyahu said in a video address to the Lebanese people.

He added, “People of Lebanon, I say to you: liberate your country from Hezbollah so that this war can end.”

According to Lebanese officials, Hezbollah has not surrendered despite three weeks of intense Israeli attacks and other operations. They have killed more than 1,400 people and displaced 1.2 million,

Hassan Nasrallah’s former number two, Naim Qassem, who was recently killed on Tuesday, insisted that Hezbollah had overcome Israel’s recent “painful blow” and that its capabilities were “good”.

Israel has gone on the offensive, hoping to guarantee the safe return of thousands of people, after almost a year of cross-border fighting caused by the war in Gaza. Displaced residents of Israeli border areas From Hezbollah’s rocket, missile and drone attacks.

Hostilities have escalated since Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel in support of the Palestinians on October 8, 2023, a day after its ally Hamas launched a deadly attack on southern Israel.

On Tuesday morning the IDF announced that reservists from its 146th Division had begun “limited, localized and targeted operational activities” in southwestern Lebanon.

These join the three divisions of the Permanent Army that have been operating in the central and eastern areas of southern Lebanon since the ground offensive began on 30 September, bringing the total number of troops deployed. more than 15,000,

The IDF announced that its troops had taken control of what it called a Hezbollah “combat compound” in the border village of Maroun al Ras and released photographs showing a loaded rocket launcher in an olive grove, Also showing weapons and equipment. Inside a residential building.

Meanwhile, drone footage showed widespread destruction in the nearby village of Yaroun, which was the initial target of the attack.

For their part, the Special Coordinator for Lebanon and the head of the UN peacekeeping force warned in a joint statement that the humanitarian impact of the conflict is “devastating”.

The Lebanese government said about 1.2 million people fled their homes last year 180,000 are in centers for displaced people,

Additionally, more than 400,000 people have fled into war-torn Syria, including more than 200,000 Syrian refugees, with the head of the UN refugee agency calling the situation a “senseless tragedy”.

The World Food Program declared that there is “extraordinary concern about Lebanon’s ability to continue producing food” as thousands of hectares of agricultural land have been burned or abandoned.

The IDF also indicated that its planes on Tuesday carried out new rounds of strikes on Hezbollah targets in Beirut’s southern suburbs, where the group has a strong presence, and other areas in Lebanon.

Earlier, Israel had announced that it had killed the commander of Hezbollah headquarters. Suhail HussainiIn an attack in the capital on Monday

Hezbollah did not comment, but if confirmed, it would be the latest in a series of serious attacks by Israel on the group, which killed Hassan Nasrallah and most of its military commanders.

The fate of is unknown Hashem SaffieddinA senior Hezbollah official who is positioning himself as the successor to his cousin Nasrallah as leader has been killed in an Israeli airstrike that reportedly targeted him in Beirut last Thursday.

IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said late Tuesday that the military could not confirm Netanyahu’s and Israel’s defense minister’s claims that Saffiedine was killed in the attack, adding that the IDF was investigating the results of the operation.

Hezbollah’s deputy leader declared in a defiant televised speech from an undisclosed location on Tuesday that its command and control is “solid” and that There is no “vacant position”Referring to his attacks on Israel in recent days.

Naim Qasim said, “We are inflicting damage on them and we will increase it over time. Dozens of cities are within range of the resistance’s missiles. We assure them that our capabilities are fine.”

But, for the first time, he did not mention an end to the war in Gaza as a precondition, even though Hezbollah had previously said it would not stop attacking Israel until the conflict in the Strip ended.

“We support the political efforts that Nabih Berri (Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament) is making to achieve a ceasefire,” Qassem said in a televised speech.

And he proposed that “once there is a ceasefireDiplomacy can check all other details.

It is unclear whether this means a change in Hezbollah’s position.

The speech began with more than 100 rockets Towards the Gulf of Haifa, as well as towards the areas of Lower, Middle and Upper Galilee.

The IDF indicated that most of the rockets were intercepted and there were no serious casualties.

There was a direct attack on Haifa on Sunday night, something that had not happened since the last war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006.

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