Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz declared Monday that the "limited" ground operation launched in South Lebanon will continue "until Hezbollah no longer poses a threat to the residents of northern Israel" - drawing a direct parallel with Israel's military campaign in Gaza.
Hezbollah chief Naim Kassem © Mena Today
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz declared Monday that the "limited" ground operation launched in South Lebanon will continue "until Hezbollah no longer poses a threat to the residents of northern Israel" - drawing a direct parallel with Israel's military campaign in Gaza.
Katz instructed the IDF to "destroy terrorist infrastructure near the border to prevent Hezbollah's return », modelling the operation on strikes against Hamas in Rafah, Beit Hanoun and the destruction of Gaza's tunnel network.
On the humanitarian dimension, the minister was unequivocal: "The hundreds of thousands of Shiite residents of South Lebanon will not return to the area south of the Litani River until the security of northern Israel's residents is guaranteed."
Katz reserved his sharpest words for Hezbollah chief Naim Kassem, whom he accused of "hiding underground while his actions turn more than one million Lebanese into refugees in their own country." The threat was explicit: Kassem would "soon join in the depths of hell" his predecessor Hassan Nasrallah, eliminated in September 2024, and Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, killed on February 28, 2026.
Hezbollah, Katz concluded, will pay "a heavy price" for its efforts to destroy Israel.
A 10-day ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel went into effect on Thursday and President Donald Trump said the next meeting between the United States and Iran may take place over the weekend, adding to optimism that the Iran war could be nearing an end.
Lebanon’s president will not speak to Israel’s prime minister in the near future, Lebanese officials said on Thursday, dealing a blow to U.S. efforts to expand contacts between the enemy states as Pakistan said peace in Lebanon was vital to ending the Iran war.
A Frenchman whose role in a fatal hit-and-run in Israel more than a decade ago triggered a diplomatic dispute between Paris and Jerusalem, was shot dead on a street in the wealthy Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine on Thursday, French prosecutors said.
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