The Israeli foreign minister, Israel Katz threatened this Tuesday to unleash a “total war” against the Lebanese Islamist movement Hezbollahbacked by Iran, after weeks of border artillery duels.
Katz made these statements after Hezbollah published images that it claimed were taken by a drone in Haifaa port city in northern Israel.
The border is the scene of almost daily exchanges of fire between the Israeli army and Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas, after the start on October 7 of the war between Israel and that Islamist movement in power in Gaza.
Hezbollah claims it launched more than 2,100 military operations against Israel since October 8.
“We are very close to the moment when we will decide to change the rules of the game against Hezbollah and Lebanon. In an all-out war, Hezbollah will be destroyed and Lebanon hit hard,” Katz warned, according to a statement from his office and on the X network.
According to the Israeli minister, the head of Hezbollah, Hasan Nasrallah“boasts of having photographed the ports of Haifa, operated by large international Chinese and Indian companies, and of threatening to damage them.”
In the video, which AFP Unable to independently verify at this time, Hezbollah identifies locations such as military and energy infrastructure, as well as civilian facilities.
Hezbollah published the images coinciding with a visit to Beirut by Amos Hochsteinspecial envoy of US President Joe Biden, to try to reduce tension at the border.
“The conflict (…) between Israel and Hezbollah has already lasted too long,” declared the American emissary in Beirut.
“We are all interested in resolving it quickly and diplomatically and this is feasible and urgent,” he added, considering that the situation is “serious” and emphasizing that Washington wants to avoid “a large-scale war.”
The Shiite movement intensified its attacks on military sites in northern Israel last week, after the death of one of its commanders in an Israeli bombing.
Hochstein met with the president of the Lebanese Parliament, Nabih Berry a key ally of Hezbollah, a day after meeting in Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
According to the US envoy, with Berri he spoke about “the political and security situation in Lebanon and the agreement that is on the table regarding Gaza,” in reference to the plan presented in May by the president. Joe Biden.
The plan foresees, in a first phase, a six-week ceasefire accompanied by an Israeli withdrawal from the densely populated areas of Gazaas well as the release of some hostages held in Gaza and the release of Palestinians detained in Israel.
The American envoy also met with the Lebanese prime minister, Najib Mikati, who stated that “what is needed is to stop the current Israeli aggression against Lebanon and for calm and stability to return to the southern border.”
The war between Israel and Hamas broke out on October 7, when Islamist militants killed 1,194 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped 251 in southern Israel, according to a count based on official Israeli data.
The Israeli army estimates that 116 kidnapped people remain in Gaza, of whom 41 have reportedly died.
In response, Israel launched an offensive that has left at least 37,372 dead in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the Ministry of Health of the Palestinian territory, governed by Hamas since 2007.
In Lebanon, at least 473 people have died after more than eight months of cross-border attacks, most of them combatants, but also 92 civilians, according to estimates by AFP.
On the Israeli side, at least 15 soldiers and 11 civilians were killed, according to authorities.
(With information from AFP)
