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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned Lebanon that it could face ‘destruction and suffering’ like Gaza and has told its people that they need to ‘free’ the country from Hezbollah to end the war. ‘You have an opportunity to save Lebanon before it falls into the abyss of a long war that will lead to destruction and suffering like we see in Gaza,’ Netanyahu said in a video address directed to the people of Lebanon.
‘I say to you, the people of Lebanon: Free your country from Hezbollah so that this war can end.’ Netanyahu said Israeli forces ‘took out thousands of terrorists, including (Hassan) Nasrallah himself and Nasrallah’s replacement and the replacement of his replacement.’
On Saturday, a high-level Hezbollah source said that contact with Hashem Safieddine – widely touted as Hezbollah’s next leader – had been lost following Israeli strikes last week. The Israeli military has been pummeling the southern suburbs of Beirut with continual air raids, targeting Hezbollah’s leaders, military installations and weapons caches.
It comes as the IDF said that it killed a senior Hezbollah commander in a strike on Beirut while the militant group’s acting leader promised more fighting against Israeli troops in southern Lebanon and rocket fire into Israel.
The military said the strike killed Suhail Husseini, who it said was responsible for overseeing logistics, budget and management of the group. There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah.
Sheikh Naim Kassem, the acting leader of Hezbollah, said in a defiant televised statement that his group’s military capabilities are still intact. He said that Hezbollah has replaced all of its senior commanders after weeks of heavy Israeli airstrikes across large parts of Lebanon, including targeted strikes that killed much of its top command in a matter of days.
But earlier today, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Hezbollah had been ‘battered and broken’ by the relentless strikes on its strongholds and the killing of its leader. Palestinian militants in Gaza fired a barrage of rockets into Israel on Monday, the anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, underscoring their resilience in the face of a devastating Israeli offensive in Gaza that has killed about 42,000 people, according to local medical officials.
A year ago, Hamas-led militants blew holes in Israel’s security fence and stormed into army bases and farming communities, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting another 250. They are still holding about 100 captives inside Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Israel is now at war with Hamas in Gaza and its ally Hezbollah in Lebanon, which began firing rockets at Israel on October 8, 2023. On Monday, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said an Israeli strike in the country’s south, part of a wider bombardment, killed at least 10 firefighters. Hezbollah fired new barrages despite its recent losses.
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