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Netanyahu Says Israel's Prepared for 'Very Intense' Fight on Northern Border, Amid Heightened Clashes With Hezbollah

Published: 6/6/2024, 12:39:51 PM EDT

Netanyahu Says Israel's Prepared for 'Very Intense' Fight on Northern Border, Amid Heightened Clashes With Hezbollah — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference at the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Oct. 28, 2023. (Abir Sultan/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday signaled his country is readying to intensify military action along its northern border with Lebanon as Israel continues to skirmish with Hezbollah.

Mr. Netanyahu signaled a willingness to fight Hezbollah—a U.S. and Israeli-designated Lebanese terrorist group—in a press statement while visiting the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Gibor military base in the northern Israeli community of Kiryat Shmona on Wednesday. The Israeli prime minister visited the northern Israeli community to meet with leaders of the IDF's Northern Command to discuss continuing cross-border fighting between Israel and Lebanon.

Israel's northern military forces have been fighting with Hezbollah for months. The designated terrorist group—which is also organized as a political entity within the Lebanese government—has intensified attacks near the Lebanese border since October, as much of Israel's military forces have focused south toward their ongoing military campaign in the Gaza Strip against Hamas; another U.S. and Israeli-designated terrorist group.

Israel has evacuated several of its northern border communities amid the ongoing cross-border skirmishes. Israeli forces have also conducted responsive strikes inside Lebanon.

Israeli authorities believe a Hezbollah rocket strike set off fires that spread throughout Kiryat Shmona this week, burning hundreds of acres of land. Mr. Netanyahu surveyed the recent destruction during his Wednesday visit and addressed Israeli troops and local firefighters who have worked together to battle the blaze.

"Yesterday the ground burned here and I am pleased that you have extinguished it," Mr. Netanyahu said. "But ground also burned in Lebanon."

The Israeli prime minister reiterated that he would not fail to respond to Hezbollah's attacks.

"Whoever thinks he can hurt us and we will respond by sitting on our hands is making a big mistake. We are prepared for very intense action in the north. One way or another, we will restore security to the north," he said.

Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary general of Hezbollah—which is also organized as a political entity within the Lebanese government—has insisted Hezbollah is acting in support of the Palestinian people and that they will continue to strike across the Lebanese-Israeli border as long as Israel continues its military campaign in the Gaza Strip.

Netanyahu Allies Call to Send Israeli Troops Into Lebanon

While Mr. Netanyahu's office did not specify any new military actions in the north in the Wednesday press statement, members of Mr. Netanyahu's cabinet have suggested Israeli forces should take more expansive measures to defeat Hezbollah, including creating a security zone inside Lebanon's borders.

Israeli National Security Minister said on Tuesday that it was unacceptable for Israeli land to be under attack while Lebanon enjoys a relative state of peace, adding, "All Hezbollah strongholds must be burned, destroyed."

"Mr. Prime Minister, get strength from the multitudes who are here and give the order. Go to war with Hezbollah, subdue it, destroy it, move the security strip from the Galilee to southern Lebanon," Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said to a crowd of supporters during a speech in Jerusalem on Wednesday.

President Joe Biden's administration, by contrast, has sought to avoid the Israel-Lebanon border skirmish expanding into a broader conflict.

U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said on Tuesday that the department and the administration as a whole have been trying to keep the fighting in the north "from moving from shelling across the border and airstrikes across the border to a full-fledged conflagration."

Mr. Miller said the Biden administration is hopeful that a ceasefire deal in the Gaza Strip will also bring calm on Israel's northern border, allowing for both Israeli and Lebanese civilians to return to their homes on either side of the border.