Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the Lebanese people against supporting Hezbollah in a video address on Tuesday 8 October, telling them that Lebanon could become another Gaza.
In the video statement, Netanyahu urged Lebanese people to remove Hezbollah from power to avoid the destruction and suffering caused by Israel in Gaza.
“You have a chance to save Lebanon before it falls into the abyss of a protracted war,” Netanyahu said.
He also called for the Lebanese people to “free their country from Hezbollah’s influence,” to end the ongoing conflict.
This warning came as Israel increased its military operations against Hezbollah, deploying thousands of troops into new areas of southwest Lebanon particularly around the regions of Maroun al-Ras and the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Netanyahu claimed that Israeli forces killed 50 Hezbollah members in air strikes on 7 October, while the Lebanese Ministry of Health reported that 36 people had died and 150 were injured due to Israeli attacks within the past 24 hours.
Despite these strikes, Hezbollah retaliated by launching rockets into the Israeli port city of Haifa for the third consecutive day, injuring 12 people.
The situation on the ground remains dire, with reports indicating that over 1,400 people have been killed in Lebanon and 1.2 million displaced since the beginning of intensified hostilities.
Hezbollah’s deputy leader, Naim Qassem, responded defiantly, stating that the group has endured recent losses and remains capable of continuing its operations against Israel.
As the conflict escalates, the humanitarian situation in Lebanon has reached catastrophic levels. The United Nations reports that many have fled their homes, with 180,000 people displaced or seeking refuge in neighboring Syria.
The World Food Programme (WFP) has raised alarms about Lebanon’s agricultural sustainability, as farmland is being decimated by ongoing violence. It was reported that the burning of 1,900 hectares of farmland in the south of Lebanon in addition to another 12,000 hectares in one of the country’s most productive regions which affected 46,000 farmers.
Comments (0)