Netanyahu: Israel will ‘turn Beirut, Lebanon into Gaza’ if Hezbollah starts ‘all-out war’

 Israel will bomb Beirut and southern Lebanon like it has the Gaza Strip if the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah decides to start an “all-out war”, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Thursday.

Accompanied by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, Netanyahu visited the border area, where crossfire between Israel and militias in Lebanon has been raging since October.

A 60-year-old Israeli civilian died from an anti-tank missile on Thursday.

“If Hezbollah decides to open an all-out war, then with its own hands it will turn Beirut and southern Lebanon, which are not far from here, into Gaza and Khan Younis,” Netanyahu said.

In a statement on Thursday afternoon, Hezbollah confirmed it had launched the attack on Israeli territory.

It was the latest exchange in a conflict that has been simmering since the day after Hamas, the Islamist group that governs the Gaza Strip, attacked Israel on Oct. 7,

Netanyahu added that Israel’s will is to “restore security” on the northern border with Lebanon, and urged Israel’s enemies “to pay attention.

On Thursday, Israel also bombed Lebanon from the ground and air after several missiles were launched from Lebanon that it attributed to Hezbollah.

This is the worst spike in tensions since the 2006 war between Israel and the Shiite group.

So far, some 123 people have been killed: 11 in Israel – seven soldiers and four civilians – and at least 112 in Lebanon, including 81 Hezbollah members, 12 Palestinian militia members, two soldiers and 17 civilians – including three journalists and three children.

Israel has evacuated more than 60,000 people from communities in the north, while the violence has forced the displacement of some 55,000 in Lebanon

BY NADEEM FAISAL BAIGA