Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a direct appeal to Lebanon amid the ongoing conflict with Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group. Calling Lebanon “once the pearl of the Middle East, known for its tolerance and beauty,” Netanyahu called on people to take back the country that “Hezbollah has turned into an ammunition depot and a forward Iranian military base.”
The prime minister’s call on Tuesday came hours after Israel expanded its ground operations in southern Lebanon, deploying more troops to begin “limited, localized, targeted operational activities” as part of the Jewish nation’s “Operation Northern Arrows” against Hezbollah.
In his video address, Netanyahu said: “This is a message to the people of Lebanon. Do you remember when your country was called the pearl of the Middle East? I do it. So what happened to Lebanon? A gang of tyrants and terrorists destroyed it. Here’s what happened.”
“Lebanon was once known for its tolerance, for its beauty. Today it is a place of chaos, a place of war,” he added.
He also warned the people of Lebanon to save their nation “before it falls into the abyss of a long war that will lead to destruction and suffering as we see in Gaza. It must not be like this”.
“Now you, the Lebanese people, stand at an important crossroads. It’s your choice. Now you can get your country back. You can bring her back to the path of peace and prosperity. If you don’t, Hezbollah will continue to try to fight Israel from densely populated areas at your expense. He doesn’t care if Lebanon gets drawn into a wider war.
He also repeated his pledge to eliminate Hezbollah and claimed to have killed thousands of its fighters, including former chief Hassan Nasrallah and his likely successors.
“Israel decided to put an end to this. We are determined to do whatever it takes to get our people home safely. Israel has the right to defend itself. Israel has a right to win too! And Israel will win. “
But Hezbollah remains defiant despite steady progress and Israel’s unrelenting strikes against Lebanon over the past three weeks, which have killed more than 1,400 people and displaced another 1.2 million.
Earlier on Tuesday, Naim Qassem, Nasrallah’s former deputyinsisted that the militant group had overcome recent “painful blows” from Israel and that its capabilities were “good”.
