Netanyahu touts ‘freedom of action’ against Hezbollah, says disarming group key to talks with Beirut

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asserts Israel’s freedom to strike Hezbollah targets throughout Lebanon and argues that military action against the terror group will help advance ongoing diplomatic talks with Beirut, while speaking at a conference of the IDF’s senior command.

The premier touts “tremendous achievements” against Hezbollah, including the “elimination” of their rocket array, as well as the recent reestablishment of a “security zone” in southern Lebanon, which, he says, “prevents the possibility of an invasion into northern Israel, and now also prevents direct anti-tank missile fire, while allowing us to change the situation in Lebanon.” His Hebrew-language remarks are shared by his office.

Israel is striking “both in the security zone, north of the security zone, and north of the Litani [River],” Netanyahu continues, touting Israel’s “freedom of action to thwart [both] immediate and emerging threats,” as “part of the agreement we reached with the United States and the Lebanese government.”

Under the terms of the current ceasefire, which was extended last week, Israel reserves the right to respond to threats from the Iran-backed terror group.

Netanyahu says that only about 10 percent of Hezbollah’s missile stock remains from when the recent bout of fighting began last month, but that “there are still two central threats” posed by the group, namely its 122mm rockets and use of drones and UAVs.

If Israel succeeds in countering these threats “through a combination of operational and technological means… we are essentially on the path to disarming Hezbollah — because this is their primary weaponry,” Netanyahu says.

The premier suggests that doing so will assist the US-brokered talks with Beirut, telling the senior IDF officers in the audience that he expects them “to solve these two problems — because on the diplomatic side, I believe we will be able to resolve things, if we have resolved this.”