‘Will turn Beirut into Gaza’: Netanyahu warns Hezbollah against all-out war

In a stern warning to Hezbollah, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cautioned.

The Iranian-backed group against instigating an all-out war, saying that in such a case, Beirut – Lebanon’s capital – would be turned into Gaza and Khan Yunis.

“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 during his visit to the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) Northern Command Headquarters with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and IDF Chief-of-Staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi.

The warning comes in the aftermath of a guided missile attack believed to be orchestrated by Hezbollah, resulting in the death of a 60-year-old Israeli man in northern Israel.

“We are determined to bring victory, and we will do it with your help,” the Israeli Prime Minister further said.

Netanyahu visited the IDF’s northern unit as diplomatic efforts by Israel to contain cross-border incidents continue. This is to ensure that an all-out conflict is checked lest it sees Israel in a battle on two fronts.

Israel and Hezbollah have been trading strikes since October 7 when the Palestinian terrorist group, Hamas – also backed by Iran – launched a surprise and unprecedented attack against Israel. In retaliation, Israel has been bombarding the Gaza Strip – controlled by Hamas – relentlessly, which has triggered a massive humanitarian crisis and drawn worldwide calls for an immediate ceasefire.

Netanyahu, however, has dismissed ceasefire calls, saying that it would mean caving in to Hamas. The October 7 attack killed more than 1,000 Israelis, while over 16,000 Palestinians, including women and children, have so far died in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.

The Israeli Prime Minister had earlier also issued a warning to Hezbollah. During his yet another visit to IDF’s Northern Command Headquarters in October, Netanyahu said that if the group went to war, “it will regret it”.

“We will strike Hezbollah with a force that it cannot even imagine, and it will be destructive for both Hezbollah and the Lebanese state,” he added.

Meanwhile, this development comes after the IDF informed on X on Friday (December 8) that its troops struck a series of Hezbollah sites in response to the group’s anti-tank missile attack near the community of Shtula on the Lebanon border, which injured two Israeli soldiers.

According to the Israeli military, the Hezbollah sites that their forces struck included a position used to fire projectiles at Israel earlier.