Netanyahu warns Lebanon if Hezbollah enters all-out war: 'You will be destroyed'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated this Saturday the threats to Lebanon, a country that will be “destroyed” if the Hezbollah militia party enters a large-scale war with Israel.

“We are going to restore security in the north and south. “If Hezbollah makes the mistake and enters into a full-scale war, it will have destroyed Lebanon with its own hands,” Netanyahu said in a televised speech.

“We are acting in the north against all Hezbollah initiatives against us. We are eliminating terrorist cells, moving them away from the border, destroying ammunition. “We are going to continue with strong deterrence in the north and total victory in the south,” he explained.

Regarding the Gaza Strip, Netanyahu has defended that the only way to achieve the objective of destroying the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) is through a ground invasion of the enclave and has stressed that the offensive will continue “until the end.”

“We are going to do everything we can to bring (the hostages) home, to complete the mission, but also to destroy Hamas and ensure that Hamas is never a threat to us again and that no group threatens Israel from Gaza.” , has added.

“I say it simply and plainly: we are going to continue with the war until we achieve all our objectives (…). There is no way to achieve these objectives other than by winning, there is no way to win other than with a ground invasion,” he argued.

Netanyahu has highlighted that so far 110 hostages have been released, of which 86 were Israeli civilians, children, women and the elderly.. “I had a very hard time with the decision, wondering how to negotiate with the demon that murders, kidnaps and rapes. However, at that very moment, I knew we could save dozens of lives. We have recovered many, but the mission is not yet complete,” he highlighted.