A defiant Benjamin Netanyahu has declared that Israel seeks total victory against the Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon – as he warned Tehran “there is no place” his nation “cannot reach.”
Facing growing pressure over the need for a ceasefire on the Israeli-Lebanon border and long-running calls over a truce in Gaza, the Israeli prime minister laid out a bombastic defence of his actions at the UN General Assembly in New York, containing lots of fiery rhetoric but no mention of putting an end to either conflict.
Firmly rebuffing Western pressure for a truce with Hezbollah, he declared instead that “we are winning”.
As if to make the point, not long after he finished his speech, explosions rocked Beruit, with the military announcing that it had launched a strike targeting Hezbollah’s central headquarters. Reports suggested that Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, was the possible target.
As the explosion sent massive clouds of orange and black smoke billowing into the sky, Israeli Army spokesman Daniel Hagari claimed that the base was underneath residential buildings.
The Independent asked whether Hassan Nasrallah was present at the headquarters and the Israeli military declined to confirm or deny.
Earlier in the day, an Israeli airstrike killed a family of nine in a border village, authorities said, as Lebanon struggled to deal with a rising death toll – around 700 – and a wave of tens of thousands fleeing their homes thanks to the possibility of an all-out war. One woman, who wished not to be named, described losing her uncle and his entire family, his wife and their 3 daughters, in a strike in the south of the country.
The woman told The Independent: “I have some other friends as well… There is one whole family, my childhood friend from school, with his wife and daughters. They all were killed and also his sister, who was with us in school. I am just one person, we all have so many stories.”
With tensions flaring on two fronts, Mr Netanyahu said that Israel was waging a war for its survival after the 7 October attacks – during which around 1,200 people were killed by Hamas and another 250 taken hostage – and also affirmed his army’s “sacred mission” of bringing “hostages home.”
Hezbollah has said it won’t stop firing until there is a ceasefire in Gaza, having exchanged cross-border fire with Israel since October and Israel’s retaliatory aerial and ground assault on Gaza. More than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the local health ministry, and more than 90 per cent of the population displaced.
Mr Netanyahu began in New York by saying he was prompted to address the UN following “lies and slander” spread by other world leaders, adding that he sought to “set the record straight”. His harshest warnings were reserved for Iran, whose delegation was absent for the speech, which he described as the “puppet master” behind the violence.
“There is no place in Iran that the long arm of Israel cannot reach,” he said. “And that’s true of the entire Middle East. Far from being lambs led to the slaughter, Israel soldiers have fought back with incredible courage.”
Delegations from several nations walked out as the 74-year-old spoke, but projecting to those cheering in the gallery, where a number of families of hostages were watching, he said: “I have another message for this assembly and for the world outside this hall: We are winning.”
Mr Netanyahu’s defiance comes in the face of growing calls for a ceasefire with Hezbollah, alongside the long-standing calls for a truce in Gaza. The US, France, UK and a number of allies have put forward a proposal for a 21-day truce on the Lebanon-Israeli border. In a statement before his UN address, Mr Netanyahu’s office said talks over the proposal would continue in “the coming days”. But there was little sign of that in his speech.
The Israeli military reported conducting dozens of strikes over two hours on Friday in the southern regions of Lebanon, including the cities of Sidon and Nabatiyeh. The strikes targeted Hezbollah rocket launchers and infrastructure. According to the military, Hezbollah responded by launching a barrage of rockets toward the northern Israeli city of Tiberias.
Washington has cautioned that further escalation would complicate efforts for civilians on both sides to return home. Mr Netanyahu declared to the UN assembly that Israel’s military campaign would persist: “We will keep weakening Hezbollah until all our goals are achieved.”
In his own speech to the UN General Assembly on Thursday, Sir Keir Starmer stepped up calls for an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon. “Stop the violence. Step back from the brink,” the prime minister said
Similar rhetoric was said regarding the conflict in Gaza, where US-led ceasefire negotiations have stalled. Mr Netanyahu said that the war could end if Hamas responsible for the 7 October attack on Israel surrendered, disarmed and released the hostages taken during the assault.
He said: “We will fight until we secure total victory. There is no alternative.” He added that the same was true of Hezbollah.
Mr Netanyahu ended his speech by criticising the UN as “a house of darkness” and a “swamp of antisemitic bile”, and said Israel should be treated as fairly as other nations