Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned Lebanon could face destruction “like Gaza” and claimed Israel has killed slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s “replacement, and the replacement of his replacement”.
Netanyahu’s remarks came in a video message addressed to Lebanese citizens on Tuesday, in which he also claimed Hezbollah is “weaker than it has been for many, many years”.
The Israeli army previously said it had targeted top Hezbollah commander Hashem Safieddine, who was tipped to be the successor to Nasrallah, in an air strike on Beirut last week, but his fate is so far unknown.
There has been no comment from the Lebanese armed group yet on Netanyahu’s latest remarks.
“You have an opportunity to save Lebanon before it falls into the abyss of a long war that will lead to destruction and suffering like we see in Gaza,” Netanyahu said in his address, referring to the besieged enclave that has been under a relentless and bloody Israeli bombardment campaign for one year.
Israel’s continuing assault on Gaza has devastated the territory and killed at least 41,965 people, according to Palestinian health authorities, and nearly all of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been displaced at least once.
Netanyahu’s stark warning came as the Israeli military deployed more troops to Lebanon and ordered people in southern coastal areas, and in areas of the capital Beirut’s southern suburbs, to evacuate.
Hezbollah earlier said it fired rockets at the Israeli port city of Haifa, its biggest-yet rocket barrage at the area, after the Israeli military reported 85 projectiles crossing from Lebanon.
Israel expanded its incursion in Lebanon nearly a year after it began exchanging fire with Hezbollah. The Lebanese group says its strikes are in support of Palestinians in Gaza.
Israel has promised to secure its northern border with Lebanon to allow tens of thousands of Israelis to return to towns and settlements there.
Hezbollah’s Qassem ‘calm’ and ‘in control’
Both the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza, and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, have pledged no let-up against Israel, and on Tuesday Hezbollah deputy leader Naim Qassem said the group would make it impossible for Israelis to return to the north.
Israel launched a wave of strikes against Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon on September 23, leaving at least 1,473 people dead since then.
Israeli attacks have targeted southern and eastern Lebanon, as well as southern and central Beirut, forcing more than a million people to flee and placing a massive strain on the country’s healthcare system.
While Lebanon’s coast has not been spared, Israel’s latest evacuation warning suggests it is extending its offensive northwards.
On its Telegram channel, the Israeli military said its 146th Division began “limited, localised, targeted operational activities” against what it claimed are Hezbollah targets and infrastructure in southwestern Lebanon.
Hezbollah’s deputy leader said despite Israel’s “painful” strikes, the group’s leadership structure was in order and its military capabilities were “fine”.
“Netanyahu says he wants to bring back” the displaced to their homes in northern Israel, Qassem said.
But “we say that many more residents will be forced to flee” their homes, he warned.
Military and security analyst Elijah Magnier said that Qassem has become “the spokesperson of Hezbollah”, and appeared to be “in control”.
“This is his second appearance after the beginning of the war on Lebanon in the last few weeks. He is appearing more confident, he’s more calm, he’s in control,” Magnier told Al Jazeera.
“He is not saying, ‘I am the new secretary-general’ because there is going to be an election [but] it’s not going to happen soon because there is no need.”
“Now, if the Israelis have stopped the clock on their time, they’re really going to be very disappointed because Hezbollah has absorbed this hit and is moving forward,” Magnier said.
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