Defense Minister Israel Katz says the targeted ground operation in south Lebanon that the IDF announced today will continue until the Hezbollah terror group no longer poses a threat to the residents of northern Israel, APA reports, citing The Times of Israel.
The comments come hours after the IDF announced it had begun a “targeted ground operation against key targets” in southern Lebanon, pushing more forces deeper into the area as part of an expanded buffer zone after Hezbollah began attacking Israel earlier this month amid the war with Iran.
Katz adds that the operation in south Lebanon is meant to resemble the military’s operations in Gaza during its two-year war against Hamas.
“The IDF has begun a ground maneuver in Lebanon to remove threats and protect the residents of the Galilee and the north,” Katz says in a statement after holding an assessment with military brass. “Hundreds of thousands of Shiite residents of south Lebanon who have evacuated and are evacuating from their homes will not return to the area south of the Litani [River] until the safety of the residents of the north is guaranteed.”
Katz says that he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have told the military to destroy terror infrastructure close to the border in order to prevent Hezbollah’s return, “just as was done against Hamas in Rafah, Beit Hanoun and the terror tunnels in Gaza.”
The defense minister vows to restore a sense of security to the residents of northern Israel, saying that Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem is hiding underground as his actions make over a million Lebanese “refugees in their own country.”
He threatens that if the Hezbollah chief misses his predecessor Hassan Nasrallah, and former Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei, both of whom were killed by Israel, “he will soon be able to meet them in the depths of hell.”
Hezbollah will pay a “heavy price” for its efforts to destroy Israel, Katz says.
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