Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted this Friday, April 17, that Israel “has not yet finished the work” against Hezbollah and said that the objective of dismantling the pro-Iranian Lebanese Islamist movement “will not be achieved tomorrow”.
On the first day of a 10-day truce with Lebanon, announced Thursday by US President Donald Trump and in a video message, Netanyahu indicated that the war against the Shiite movement allied with Tehran, resumed on March 2, made it possible to ward off “two threats coming from Lebanon”.
A “near threat”, of “infiltration of thousands of terrorists” on Israeli soil and “anti-tank missiles firing at localities”, and a “distant threat”, that of “missiles and rockets destined to destroy the cities of Israel”.
“Today’s Hezbollah is no more than a shadow of what it was (…) but I say it frankly: we have not finished the work yet. I repeat it quite frankly (…) dismantling will not be achieved tomorrow”, he added, addressing the Israelites.
Hour earlier, the Israeli Defense Minister also stated that Israel’s military operation in Lebanon “is not yet over” and insisted on the ultimate objective of disarming Hezbollah.
“The maneuvers on the ground in Lebanon and the attacks against Hezbollah made it possible to achieve many objectives”, but the operation is not “completed”, declared Israel Katz, who stressed that the Israeli army will maintain its positions in “all the areas it vacated and conquered” in Lebanon.
“The Israeli Army maintains and will continue to maintain all the areas it vacated and conquered. The ground maneuver inside Lebanon and the attacks against Hezbollah throughout the country have made numerous progress, but have not yet been concluded”, he said.
Trump on Thursday announced a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel that covers Hezbollah, saying he is confident that the Iranian-allied group will respect the truce.
Shortly before Trump’s statement to the media, Hezbollah had guaranteed that it will respect the ceasefire, in force since midnight local time (10pm on Thursday in Lisbon), if Israel completely suspends hostilities.
According to the terms agreed by the two countries at war since March 2, the truce is expected to last 10 days, during which Lebanon and Israel must negotiate a more detailed plan to achieve lasting peace.
The Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah has already stated that its fighters are “ready to attack” if Israel violates the 10-day ceasefire that came into force on Thursday night.
In a statement, the pro-Iran group claimed to have carried out “2,184 military operations” against Israel and the Israeli army in Lebanese territory during the 45 days of war. “Fighters will keep their finger on the trigger because they fear the enemy’s betrayal,” he added.
