Amid the escalating conflict in Lebanon, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emphasized in a speech on Sunday that Israel's battle is not with the Lebanese people, but with Iran.
“These days we mark the anniversary of the difficult war that was imposed on us, the war of revival against the axis of evil of Iran,” Netanyahu said on Sunday, just days after the one-year anniversary of the October 7, 2023, attack, when Iran-backed Hamas invaded Israel.
“We are not fighting the Lebanese people. We are fighting the terrorist branch of Iran, Hezbollah, which has taken over Lebanon. All of which is aimed at providing a human shield to Hezbollah terrorists.”
On October 8, 2023, Hezbollah joined the fight with Hamas, forcing Israel to face conflict on its southern and northern fronts.
In Gaza, the Israeli offensive has killed nearly 42,000 people, according to Gaza Health Ministry figures. The Israeli attacks on Lebanon from October 2023 to early September 2024 have also killed over 2,000 people, including at least 137 civilians, figures released by the Lebanese Ministry of Health and the United Nations showed.
Israel has also vowed to retaliate against Iran for a large barrage of ballistic missiles launched by Tehran against its territory earlier this month.
Attack on UNIFIL forces
In his Sunday remarks, Netanyahu also issued a warning to the UN to move the peacekeeping forces from southern Lebanon “out of harm’s way”.
Five peacekeepers have been injured in fighting since Operation Arrow of the North began last month. Israel started with a series of deadly air strikes, targeting Hezbollah’s top ranks, including killing the group's leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
Forty countries contributing to the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon on Saturday condemned the Israeli attacks on the mission and called for an investigation of the incidents.
In their statement, the 40 countries said they "strongly condemn recent attacks on UNIFIL peacekeepers" and that "such actions must stop immediately and should be adequately investigated."
The Israeli offensive has expanded this month into what it calls a ‘limited ground operation’, but combined, has now seen 1.4 million Lebanese displaced and hundreds more killed.
During the address in Hebrew, Netanyahu turned to English to address UN Secretary General, Antony Guterres. “Mr. Secretary General get the UNIFIL forces out of harm’s way, it should be done right now, immediately,” he warned.
In Hebrew, he expressed regret for the injuries suffered by the UNIFIL soldiers. "We do everything in our power to prevent this injury, but the simple and necessary way to prevent this is to simply get them out of the danger zone,” he said, warning their presence is also a danger to Israeli soldiers.
Israeli forces asked UNIFIL to withdraw from some of its positions, but "there was a unanimous decision to stay" in the area, AFP reported Saturday citing UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti.
UNIFIL, set up in 2006, was designed to keep Hezbollah and other armed groups behind designated lines, and to see the disarmament of all such groups in the area. Neither has since been achieved.
Hezbollah was Iran’s largest and most powerful proxy until a few weeks ago. While a Hezbollah operative earns $1,500 a month, the Lebanese Armed Forces, the only armed power able to challenge Hezbollah, are paid just $300 a month. Limited by resources in the ailing economy, their troops often do not even have funds for gasoline to fuel their patrol trucks.
On Sunday, Israel announced it had captured a Hezbollah militiaman in one of the group’s tunnels, along with huge stashes of armaments, the first such announcement since fighting began. He was taken to custody in Israel while scores more projectiles continued to be fired into Israeli territory.