Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened devastation in Beirut and southern Lebanon if Hezbollah opens a second front in Israel’s war with Hamas.
“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 Yunis,” Netanyahu said.
US President Joe Biden, who has made a priority of containing the Israel-Hamas conflict, spoke to both Netanyahu and King Abdullah II of Jordan regarding “the latest developments in Gaza”, the White House said on Thursday.
Netanyahu delivered the warning during a visit to the headquarters of the Israel Defence Forces’ northern command, which oversees units that have traded fire with Hezbollah along the border with Lebanon in the weeks since Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7.
He praised military reservists’ “great spirit in their readiness for battle”.
His threat referred to the widespread destruction that Israel’s military has unleashed in the northern Gaza Strip in retaliation to the attack by Hamas, which is labelled a terrorist group by the US and the European Union.
Israel-Gaza war: 2 months on, how many Palestinians have died?
Israel-Gaza war: 2 months on, how many Palestinians have died?
On Thursday, a civilian in Israel and three Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon were killed as cross-border violence flared once again.
The pro-Iranian Hezbollah movement said it launched 10 attacks on northern Israel by the afternoon, triggering heavy Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon.
A Lebanese security source said a Hezbollah arms depot was struck on the outskirts of the village of Kounine. According to Hezbollah, three of its members died in the attack.
In Israel, a man around the age of 60 suffered chest injuries after being hit in the community of Fassuta, not far from the border with Lebanon, the Magen David Adom ambulance service said.
The man was pronounced dead at the scene, it said.
It was not immediately clear whether Netanyahu was speaking to the soldiers when the civilian was killed or whether he was anywhere near where the missile struck. A spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
Israel has now turned its focus to the south of Gaza, with troops reportedly entering Khan Yunis.
Hezbollah has expressed solidarity with Hamas, and as the fighting in the Gaza Strip has escalated, cross-border fire between Israel and Hezbollah has become a daily occurrence.
At the same time, Hezbollah has held off from launching a full-blown military campaign, helping to ease fears that the Hamas conflict would erupt into a wider regional war.
In his conversation with Netanyahu, Biden expressed concerns for the hostages in Gaza, about attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank and how crucial it was for a steady supply of humanitarian assistance into Gaza, the White House said in an account of the call, which didn’t mention Netanyahu’s warning to Hezbollah.
Biden and the king “affirmed their commitment” to work with other nations in the region to help bring about a peace agreement that would include the eventual establishment of a Palestinian state, according to the White House.
Additional reporting by dpa and Reuters