Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Thursday that he would turn Beirut into a new Gaza if Hezbollah launched a “total war” against Israel. The threat arose after a 60-year-old farmer was killed in an attack with an anti-tank missile fired from Lebanon and claimed by the Iran-backed Lebanese Shiite group.
“If Hezbollah decides to start an all-out war, it will single-handedly turn Beirut and southern Lebanon, not far from here, into Gaza and Khan Younis,” the prime minister said during a visit to the northern border with Lebanon. Netanyahu was accompanied by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and shared his message with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on X (Twitter).
Since the start of the war against Hamas, following the group’s terrorist attack on October 7, firefights have increased on the Lebanese border between the powerful Lebanese Shiite group and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF, its acronym in English). Netanyahu said it is Israel’s desire to “restore security” in this area, and urged enemies to “pay attention.”
So far, open war between the two sides has been avoided. In a rare statement about a month ago, Nasrallah did not comply with that declaration, but argued that his group’s actions on the Lebanese border forced the IDF to divide attention that would otherwise have been focused solely on the Gaza Strip and the Palestinians.
More than a hundred people have been killed along the border between Lebanon and Israel, including eleven Israelis: seven soldiers and four civilians. On the Lebanese side, most of the dead were Hezbollah militants, but sixteen civilians were also killed, including three journalists and three children. On Tuesday, Israel apologized after striking a Lebanese army post, killing one soldier and wounding three others.
Two months after the Hamas attack, which Israeli authorities say killed around 1,200 people, the IDF continues to advance in the Gaza Strip. After an initial phase in which operations were concentrated in the north of the Palestinian enclave, attention turned to the south, namely the Khan Younis region, after the seven-day break that allowed the release of more than a hundred hostages. Another 138 are still believed to be in the hands of Hamas, but a new deal to release them is still “a long way off,” according to the US.
The IDF said it struck approximately 250 targets in the Gaza Strip during a 24-hour period ending Thursday morning. At least 350 people were killed in the day’s attacks, according to health authorities in the Hamas-controlled enclave. More than 17,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the war began, while thousands have fled further south.
Article 99 of the UN Charter
The United Nations Security Council will meet next Friday after UN Secretary General António Guterres used the most powerful weapon at his disposal – Article 99, which has only been used three times in the distant past – to force the body to tackle the issue discuss. Guterres urged the 15-nation Security Council to “help prevent a humanitarian catastrophe” and called for a ceasefire.
Israel criticized Guterres, denouncing “a new moral low” and repeating calls for his resignation. US Deputy Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood told Reuters that the US government is currently opposed to discussing the Gaza issue in the Security Council. “We remain focused on the difficult and sensitive diplomacy to achieve the release of more hostages, the access of more aid in Gaza and better protection of civilians,” he said, which could mean the US will again use its veto if On the table is a request for a ceasefire.
However, from a humanitarian perspective, there could be good news if there is discussion about the possibility of Israel allowing aid to pass through its Kerem Shalom border post with Gaza.
Source: DN
