The IDF is preempting security threats rather than waiting to respond to attacks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, as IDF action to push Hezbollah back to the Litani River raised international alarm, drew threats from Iran, and caused concern in Washington.
“I would like to clarify Israel’s policy to whoever does not yet understand,” Netanyahu stated as he held security consultations with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi.
“We are not waiting for the threat; we are preempting it – everywhere, in every sector, constantly. We are eliminating senior figures, terrorists, and missiles – and our arm is still extended,” he stressed. “Whoever tries to harm us, we will harm them all the more forcefully.”
For the last week, Israel has engaged in an intensive military campaign to sway Hezbollah to move its forces out of the southern border area and back to the Litani River.
“I promised that we would change the security balance, the balance of forces in the North [by Lebanon]—this is exactly what we are doing. We are destroying thousands of missiles and rockets that are directed at Israel’s cities and citizens,” Netanyahu said.
On Monday evening, Israel launched a strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs aimed at senior Hezbollah leader Ali Karaki, the head of the southern front, but his fate was unclear, a security source told Reuters.
Tipping the balance of power
Israel said the IDF had struck 800 targets in southern Lebanon earlier that day. Lebanese authorities reported 356 dead in the country’s deadliest day in decades, due to its ongoing conflict with Israel.
In response to the strikes, Hezbollah said it had launched dozens of missiles at a military base in northern Israel.In New York, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Israel wanted to drag the Middle East into a full-blown war by provoking Iran to join the Israel-Hezbollah conflict.
“It is Israel that seeks to create this all-out conflict,” he told journalists after arriving in New York to attend the UN General Assembly, saying the consequences of such instability would be irreversible.
Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, spoke with reporters about the dangers of Monday’s events.
“The Secretary-General is gravely alarmed by the escalating situation along the Blue Line” that has caused civilian casualties on both sides, Dujarric said as he explained that UN officials were working to deescalate the situation so that a diplomatic resolution could be sought.
US President Joe Biden discussed the escalating situation along Israel’s northern border when he welcomed UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to the White House on Monday.
Biden said Lebanon and Gaza would feature prominently in their discussions, explaining he had been briefed on the latest developments between Israel and Lebanon.
“I continue to be in contact with our counterparts and we’re working to deescalate in a way that allows people to return home safely,” Biden said.
A source told The Jerusalem Post that the Americans want to make sure Israel’s actions will not lead to an all-out or regional war.
Foreign Minister Israel Katz said the United Nations Security Council must act to ensure that the Iranian proxy group Hezbollah pulls out of southern Lebanon.
“Even before October 8, Israel repeatedly warned the Security Council and UNIFIL about Hezbollah’s increasing military entrenchment on both sides of the Litani River,” Katz said in a letter he wrote on Monday to the Security Council.
“Now, this council must bring about a full implementation of UNSC Resolution 1701 and guarantee that there are no armed personnel, assets, and weapons between the Blue Line and the Litani River other than those of the Government of Lebanon and UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon),” Katz wrote.
Israel has long urged the international community and the UNSC in particular to ensure that Hezbollah adheres to Resolution 1701, which set out the ceasefire terms that ended the Second Lebanon War in 2006. That resolution mandates that no armed state actor, such as Hezbollah, is allowed to operate between the Israeli-Lebanese border and the Litani River.
Hezbollah has persistently ignored that mandate. In the aftermath of the Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel on October 7, Netanyahu’s government has held that Israeli citizens cannot safely live in their border communities until such time as Hezbollah withdraws to the Litani River.
The constrained IDF-Hezbollah cross-border war of the last year has only heightened the danger, with Hezbollah linking a diplomatic resolution to that constrained war with a Gaza ceasefire.
Katz told the UNSC that Israel had engaged “constructively” to secure a diplomatic resolution to the conflict but that “Hezbollah has refused to support a diplomatic arrangement, instead linking the issue to a ceasefire in Gaza.” “Hezbollah deliberately deploys its arms within civilian infrastructure in Lebanon, using the civilian population as human shields. Israel has been monitoring this attempt and will act in order to protect its population from Hezbollah attacks,” he said.
“I call upon the Security Council to condemn in the strongest terms the recent attack launched by Hezbollah under the guidelines of its Iranian patron and their relentless attempts to destabilize the region,” Katz stated.In a message to Israeli citizens, Netanyahu said, “We face complex times. Citizens of Israel, I ask of you two things: follow the directives of the Home Front Command; they save lives; and stand together with determination, responsibility, and, of course – patience.
“Together we will stand strong, together we will fight and with God’s help, together we will win,” he exclaimed.In a separate message to the Lebanese people,” he stated. “Israel’s war is not with you. It’s with Hezbollah.”
“For too long, Hezbollah has been using you as human shields. It placed rockets in your living rooms and missiles in your garage. Those rockets and missiles are aimed directly at our cities, directly at our citizens,” he exclaimed.
“To defend our people against Hezbollah strikes, we must take out these weapons,” Lebanon said.
“Starting this morning, the IDF has warned you to get out of harm’s way. I urge you – to take this warning seriously.” Don’t let Hezbollah endanger your lives and the lives of your loved ones. Don’t let Hezbollah endanger Lebanon.” “Please, get out of harm’s way now. Once our operation is finished, you can come back safely to your homes,” Netanyahu stressed.
Reuters contributed to this report.