Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday urged the people of Lebanon to join Israel in its fight against Hezbollah while vowing to continue to kill off the terrorists’ leaders.
“Do you remember when your country was called the pearl of the Middle East? I do,” Netanyahu said in a direct message to Lebanon that was posted on X on Tuesday.
“So what happened to Lebanon. A gang of tyrants and terrorists destroyed it,” he said.
The PM told the public and officials that they must make the choice to kick Hezbollah out from their nation to avoid further bloodshed akin to Gaza.
“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, referring to the war-torn Palestinian region that Israel has laid seige to since Hamas terrorists there attacked the Jewish state Oct. 7, 2023.
“Now you, the Lebanese people, you stand at a significant crossroads. It is your choice,” Netanyahu said. “You can now take back your country. You can return it to a path of peace and prosperity.”
“Free your country from Hezbollah so that this war can end,” he added.
Hezbollah has operated in Lebanon since the end of the country’s 25-year civil war in 1990, with the militant group serving as a political party with its own paramilitary force separate of the Lebanese army.
The extremist group was originally founded in 1982 as a direct response to Israel’s invasion in Lebanon aimed at taking out guerilla fighters hiding in the country who attacked the Jewish state.
While Lebanese officials have criticized Hezbollah’s daily attacks on Israel since Oct. 8, 2023, the government has not cracked down on the group, which enjoys popular support from the nation’s Shia population.
Along with calling on civilians to help remove Hezbollah, Netanyahu reiterated his vow to decimate the terrorist group and continue killing its leadership.
“We have degraded Hezbollah’s capabilities; we took out thousands of terrorists, including [chief Hassan] Nasrallah himself, and Nasrallah’s replacement, and the replacement of his replacement.”
The replacement Netanyahu was referring to was Hashem Safieddine, a relative of Nasrallah who was about to officially replace him as Hezbollah’s general secretary.
Israeli military officials revealed Tuesday that Saffieddine likely died in an airstrike on his Beirut base last week, but his death hasn’t been officially verified.
The Israeli military did not specify what Netanyahu meant when he claimed they killed Saffieddine’s replacement.
Israel has stated that its airstrikes and ground operations in Lebanon are aimed at taking out Hezbollah’s weapons depots and terror infrastructure to ensure they no longer pose a threat to northern Israel.
The heated conflict has left tens of thousands to flee northern Israel, with hundreds of thousands currently fleeing Lebanon as a result of the Israel’s retaliation.
More than 2,000 people have been killed in Lebanon since the conflict began, according to the country’s Lebanese Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and terrorists.
