Iran is actively making use of its terrorist proxy groups with the goal of bringing about Israel’s destruction, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu charged on Sunday.
The comments come on the heels of the explosive pager and walkie-talkie attacks in Lebanon that left dozens of Hezbollah members and other Iranian operatives across Iraq and Syria dead, as well as intense Israeli strikes in Beirut.
The Iranian threat is comprised of two elements, Netanyahu told the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Sunday: The nuclear threat and simultaneous aerial invasions from the north, south, and east.
Hezbollah attacked Israel unprovoked on October 8, Netanyahu noted, adding that no state could handle rockets constantly being fired at it, which is why the situation in the North must change. He added that Hezbollah head Hassan Nasrallah’s mistake was in aligning himself with Hamas Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar’s goals.
Restoring security by force
Netanyahu said on Sunday in a video message that Israel has inflicted a series of harsh blows on the Lebanese terror organization that the group previously “could not imagine” and that the Jewish state would continue to take whatever action necessary to restore its security.
The video address came amid the escalating tensions between Israel and Hezbollah after Jerusalem struck Beirut on Friday, killing Radwan Force chief Ibrahim Aqil. Hezbollah, in response, launched multiple rocket and drone attacks toward Israel throughout Sunday morning, to which Israel responded with airstrikes.
“In the last few days, we inflicted on Hezbollah a sequence of blows that they could not imagine. If Hezbollah did not understand the message, I promise you – it will understand the message,” Netanyahu said.
Shortly before Netanyahu’s address, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant visited the Israel Air Force’s control and attack centers and also expressed his confidence in Israel’s ability to defend against Hezbollah, Israeli media reported.
According to reports, Gallant said that he felt as though “Hezbollah began to sense some of our [Israel’s] capabilities.”
“Our moves will continue until the goal is achieved. We will use everything necessary to fulfill the mission,” he reportedly added.
Keeping our allies informed
Additionally, Gallant conducted multiple phone calls with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin over Saturday and Sunday, during which they discussed the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, according to Israel’s Government Press Office.
During their phone calls, Austin was briefed on the operation conducted by the IDF that eliminated Hezbollah’s Aqil, the GPO noted. Additionally, the two discussed Israel’s defensive position and operations against Hezbollah’s multiple rocket attacks.
Gallant reportedly also emphasized in the call that Israel’s goal was to ensure that the country’s northern communities would be able to return to their homes.
President Isaac Herzog also weighed in on the recent events, telling Sky News, “All of the leaders who were eradicated on Friday by the Israeli attack were meeting together in order to launch the same horrific, horrendous attack we had on October 7 by Hamas.”
He told Sky News that “Lebanon has been hijacked by a terrorist organization which is also a political party” that has been “armed to its teeth by the Iranian empire of Islam.”
Herzog reflected on Israel’s position in the report, saying that while Israelit is not interested in an all-out war with Hezbollah, Israelit is fighting “for the entire free world.”
When asked about the exploding pager attack in Lebanon, Herzog rejected the claim that Israel was behind the attack, Sky News reported.
Herzog emphasized at the end of the interview that Israel wants “to bring our citizens back to their homes on the border with Lebanon.”