Netanyahu: Even if there’s a Lebanon truce deal, Israel will need to operate against Hezbollah

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicates that Israel will need to continue to operate militarily against the Iran-backed Lebanese armed movement Hezbollah, even if a ceasefire deal is reached in Lebanon.

“The most important thing is not (the deal that) will be laid on paper,” Netanyahu told the Knesset in a speech earlier today.

“Even if there is a paper [setting out an agreement], worthy though it may be, we will be required, in order to ensure our security in the north (of Israel), to systematically carry out operations — not only against Hezbollah’s attacks, which could come. Even if there is a ceasefire, nobody can guarantee it will hold. So it’s not only our reaction, a preventive reaction, a reaction in the wake of attack, but also the capacity to prevent Hezbollah from strengthening.”

“We will not allow Hezbollah to return to the state it was in on October 6, 2023,” he says.