New Delhi:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday issued a stark warning to Lebanon, claiming the country could face a similar fate to Gaza if it continues to allow Hezbollah to operate within its borders. His statement came as the Israeli military intensified its offensive against Hezbollah along Lebanon’s southern coastline, deploying additional troops and advising civilians to evacuate the region.

In a direct video address to the Lebanese people, Netanyahu urged them to free their country from Hezbollah’s grip to avoid further destruction. “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,” he said. The warning was clear: unless Hezbollah is dealt with, Lebanon risks enduring the same fate as Gaza, which has seen widespread devastation due to ongoing conflict.

“I say to you, the people of Lebanon: Free your country from Hezbollah so that this war can end,” Netanyahu said. 

لديكم فرصة لإنقاذ لبنان قبل أن يقع في هاوية حرب طويلة من شأنها أن تؤدي إلى الدمار والمعاناة كما نراه في غزة. pic.twitter.com/sLcxXvSh7X

— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) October 8, 2024

Hezbollah Fires Back

The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah escalated after the group claimed responsibility for firing rockets at the Israeli port city of Haifa. This attack came after the Israeli military reported that 85 projectiles had crossed the border from Lebanon into Israel. Hezbollah, which has shown no signs of letting up, threatened to continue firing on Israeli cities and towns if Israeli strikes on Lebanese population centres persisted.

The conflict has been simmering since October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched a devastating attack on Israel, killing over a thousand civilians. Since then, Hezbollah, a key ally of Hamas, has engaged in sporadic exchanges of fire with Israeli forces. Israel, meanwhile, has vowed to secure its northern border and protect its citizens from Hezbollah’s rocket attacks.

Hezbollah’s Leadership in Crisis

Hezbollah’s leadership has faced major setbacks in recent weeks. In late September, Israel killed its leader Hassan Nasrallah in an airstrike on Beirut. Nasrallah had led Hezbollah since 1992 and was widely considered one of the most powerful figures in Lebanon. His death marked a blow to the group, but Israeli strikes did not stop there. In October, Israel launched another bombing campaign in Beirut, targeting Hashem Safieddine, a senior Hezbollah figure widely believed to be Nasrallah’s successor.

While Hezbollah has not confirmed Safieddine’s death, Netanyahu seemed to suggest in his video address that both Nasrallah and Safieddine had been killed. 

Netanyahu in his address said Israel has “degraded Hezbollah’s capabilities; we took out thousands of terrorists, including [longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah himself, and Nasrallah’s replacement, and his replacement’s replacement.”

“We struck Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters in Beirut… this is the headquarters of the head of the intelligence division, Abu Abdullah Mortada,” IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said. “With him, we know that Hashem Safieddine was there. The results of this strike are still being looked into, Hezbollah is trying to hide the details. When we know, we will update the public.”

Israel’s Strategy

Having already targeted strongholds in southern and eastern Lebanon, Israel’s latest moves signal a shift towards the coastal areas, with civilians being urged to evacuate. On its Telegram channel, the Israeli military confirmed that the 146th Division had begun “localised, targeted operational activities” in southwestern Lebanon, directly aimed at Hezbollah infrastructure.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have not spared Beirut, with strikes targeting Hezbollah’s stronghold in the southern suburbs of the city. This area is a key base of operations for Hezbollah. Israel has since dismantled Hezbollah tunnels leading into Israeli territory.

Hezbollah Remains Defiant

Despite these losses, Hezbollah remains defiant. Its deputy leader Naim Qassem declared that the group’s military capabilities were intact and that they were prepared for a protracted conflict. Qassem’s statement came even as Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant described Hezbollah as a “broken organisation,” whose leadership had been decimated following the elimination of Nasrallah.

Gallant said the impact of Israel’s strikes, claiming that Hezbollah’s command structure was in disarray and that the group lacked leadership following the death of Nasrallah and other key figures. He also described Hezbollah’s firepower capabilities as significantly diminished, thanks to Israel’s focused military campaign. However, Hezbollah continues to maintain its presence along the Lebanese border.

The Shadow of Iran

This conflict is not limited to Israel and Hezbollah. The group is widely believed to be backed by Iran, which supplies it with weapons, funding, and political support. Israeli forces have clashed with Iran-backed militias across the region, including in Syria and Yemen. Just this week, an Israeli airstrike in Damascus targeted a building used by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and Hezbollah, killing seven civilians, according to Syrian government reports.

Israel has also accused Hezbollah of using civilian areas as shields for their military operations, a tactic that has drawn widespread condemnation. Hezbollah, in turn, has pointed to the heavy civilian toll in Gaza as evidence of Israel’s indiscriminate use of force. The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is dire, with nearly all of its 2.4 million residents displaced at least once due to the ongoing Israeli bombardment.

Tehran has long been a key backer of Hezbollah. In recent weeks, however, there have been reports that Iran may be seeking a ceasefire in Lebanon, possibly as a result of Hezbollah’s mounting losses.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi visited Beirut on Friday, voicing support for a ceasefire, but insisted that any agreement would have to be backed by Hezbollah. 

Israeli forces have launched limited ground incursions in Lebanon, the United States said Monday, as militant group Hezbollah said it targeted “enemy soldiers” at the countries’ border.

A Lebanese security official said Israel had conducted at least six strikes on south Beirut, after Israel’s army ordered residents in the Hezbollah stronghold to evacuate.

Despite international calls for de-escalation, Israel earlier vowed to keep fighting Hezbollah and sealed part of the border after killing the Iran-backed group’s leader.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant warned the battle was not over even after the massive strike on Beirut that killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Friday, dealing the group a seismic blow.

Biden ceasefire call

U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told journalists Israeli officials “have informed us that they are currently conducting… limited operations targeting Hezbollah infrastructure near the border”.

Hezbollah fighters were “ready if Israel decides to enter by land”, the group’s deputy leader Naim Qassem said in a first televised address since Nasrallah’s death.

Lebanon’s national army, dwarfed by Hezbollah’s military power, was “repositioning” troops farther from the border, a military official told AFP.

World leaders have urged de-escalation, with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric saying: “We do not want any sort of ground invasion.”

U.S. President Joe Biden, whose country is Israel’s main weapons supplier, earlier on Monday indicated he opposed an Israeli ground operation.

“We should have a ceasefire now,” he said.

Hezbollah ‘targets’ troops

Earlier this month, Israel launched a wave of deadly air strikes aimed at Hezbollah across Lebanon, the latest of which killed 95 people on Monday, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.

On Monday evening, the Israeli army called on people in three districts of southern Beirut to evacuate.

“You are located near interests and facilities belonging to the terrorist Hezbollah group,” Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee said.

“For your safety and the safety of your family members, you must evacuate the buildings immediately and stay away from them.”

AFP correspondents in the capital heard explosions and saw a flash around ground level.

Hezbollah said in a statement it “targeted” Israeli troops carrying out “movements” in orchards near the Lebanese border, with a source close to the group saying the soldiers were “right on the border”.

Earlier, in northern Israel near the Lebanese border, Gallant said that “we will use all the means that may be required… from the air, from the sea, and on land”.

He said the killing of Nasrallah was “an important step, but it is not the final one”.

Everyone is afraid

Hezbollah began low-intensity strikes on Israeli troops a day after its Palestinian ally Hamas staged its unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, which triggered Israel’s devastating assault on the Gaza Strip.

The border clashes rapidly escalated this month.

On Monday, the Israeli army declared an area of the border strip a “closed military zone”.

Israel’s strikes on Lebanon have killed hundreds of people over the past week and forced up to a million to flee their homes, according to Lebanese officials.

Hezbollah and other groups launched rockets, drones and some missiles at Israel over the same period, causing some injuries but no deaths.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Iran, which backs Hamas, Hezbollah and other armed groups, of plunging “our region deeper… into war”.

“There is nowhere in the Middle East Israel cannot reach,” Netanyahu warned.

Iran has said Nasrallah’s killing would bring about Israel’s “destruction”, though the foreign ministry said Monday that Tehran would not deploy any fighters to confront Israel.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati called for a ceasefire based on a recent U.S.-French proposal, urging “an end to the Israeli aggression against Lebanon”.

Earlier on Monday, an Israeli strike hit a building in central Beirut, with an armed Palestinian group saying it had killed three of its members.

The strike, the first in the city centre in years, sparked panic.

Central Beirut resident Kahier Bannout, 42, said it was “supposed to be a safe area — not a war zone”.

“Everyone is afraid.”

Lebanon’s Health Minister Firass Abiad said more than 1,000 people have been killed since September 17.

UN refugee agency chief Filippo Grandi said “well over 200,000 people are displaced inside Lebanon”, while more than 100,000 have fled to neighbouring Syria.

Little time

France on Monday evening said it was deploying a naval ship to Lebanon as a “precaution” in case it decided to evacuate French citizens.

Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, the first high-level diplomat to visit Beirut since the Israeli strikes intensified, said “there is still hope” for a ceasefire, “but there is little time”.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said diplomacy was the best path forward for the region.

Washington “will continue to work… to advance a diplomatic resolution” for the Israel-Lebanon border, and for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release deal, he said.

The United States, Qatar and Egypt tried for months to broker such a deal, which Netanyahu’s domestic critics accused him of obstructing.

In Gaza, AFP journalists said the number of Israeli air strikes has dropped significantly in recent days.

A UN Satellite Centre assessment issued Monday said “two-thirds of the total structures in the Gaza Strip have sustained damage” in nearly a year of war.

Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures that include hostages killed in captivity.

Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 41,615 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to figures provided by the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The UN has described the figures as reliable.