Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told world leaders on Sept. 27 that Israel will “continue degrading Hezbollah” until it pacifies the border region with Lebanon.
Netanyahu’s comments are likely to dampen international efforts to push Israel into a wider cease-fire deal and to prevent its confrontations with Hezbollah, Hamas, and Iran from spiraling into a larger, regional conflict.
Earlier in the week, the United States, France, and other allies called on Israel to pursue an immediate three-week cease-fire to allow for negotiations with Hezbollah and prevent all-out war.
The embattled Israeli leader told the U.N. General Assembly in New York City, however, that his government would no longer tolerate the daily rocket attacks from Hezbollah forces along the northern border—attacks Israel has moved to suppress in the last week with heavy missile fires of its own.
“Israel has every right to remove this threat and return our citizens to their homes safely,” Netanyahu said.
“And that’s exactly what we’re doing ... we’ll continue degrading Hezbollah until all our objectives are met.
“Just imagine if terrorists turned El Paso and San Diego into ghost towns. How long would the American government tolerate that?
“Yet Israel has been tolerating this intolerable situation for almost a year. Well, I’ve come here today to say, enough is enough.”
Netanyahu also defended his nation’s response to the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas terrorists, who killed more than 1,200 Israelis during surprise armed attacks into Israel.
Hezbollah began attacking Israel almost immediately after the Hamas invasion, and fighting between Israel and the Lebanese terrorist group has driven tens of thousands of people from their homes on both sides of the border.
Israel’s subsequent invasion of the Gaza Strip following the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks drew the condemnation of many in the international community for its apparent brutality and wide-reaching destruction of civilian infrastructure.
Netanyahu defended Israel’s actions in Gaza, saying that he traveled to the United Nations to refute untruths he had heard from other leaders earlier in the week.
“I didn’t intend to come here this year. My country is at war fighting for its life,” Netanyahu said. “But after I heard the lies and slanders leveled at my country by many of the speakers at this podium, I decided to come here and set the record straight.”
The health authority in Gaza claims that more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel since fighting began last year. However, those numbers do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Netanyahu has previously pushed back against those numbers, saying that the civilian-to-combatant death ratio was roughly one to one.
Netanyahu said that the war could be ended immediately if Hamas surrendered, but warned that if it didn’t, Israel would not stop its assault until total victory was achieved.
“This war can come to an end now. All that has to happen is for Hamas to surrender, lay down its arms, and release all the hostages,” Netanyahu said. “But if they don’t—if they don’t—we will fight until we achieve total victory. Total victory. There is no substitute for it.”
