War Cabinet Minister and former Israeli defense minister Benny Gantz warned US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a phone call Monday night that residents of northern Israel are facing an existential threat from Lebanon’s Iranian-backed Hezbollah terror organization – and that Israel will have no choice but to address it.
שוחחתי הערב עם מזכיר המדינה האמריקאי, אנתוני בלינקן.
הודיתי לו על התמיכה החשובה של ארה"ב בישראל ועל הטלת הווטו במועצת הביטחון, ועדכנתי אותו בהתקדמות המערכה מול חמאס בעזה.
ציינתי בשיחתנו כי העלייה במתקפות מצד חיזבאללה בגיבוי איראן מחייבת את ישראל להסיר את האיום על תושבי הצפון,…— בני גנץ – Benny Gantz (@gantzbe) December 11, 2023
“I spoke tonight with the US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken,” Gantz said in a statement posted on the X social media platform.
“I thanked him for the important US support for Israel and the veto in the Security Council, and I updated him on the progress of the campaign against Hamas in Gaza,” Gantz said.
“I mentioned in our conversation that the increase in attacks by Hezbollah with the backing of Iran requires Israel to remove the threat to the residents of the north,” he added.
Gantz noted in the call that “the international community has an important role these days, and must act against the state of Lebanon now, to stop the aggression in the border area.”
Lebanese Rocket Attacks on Israel Began at 7 am, Continued Through the Day
Last week Israel reportedly sent a message to Hezbollah via UNIFIL warning the IDF would attack any military operative or civilian, within a three-kilometer zone north of the Lebanese border.
In response, the Iranian proxy said it would do likewise to any IDF soldier or Israeli civilian seen in a three-kilometer zone south of the same border, in Israeli territory.
According to the Lebanese Al Akhbar news outlet, the message stated that “Israel considers everything that moves on the border with Lebanon, at a depth of up to three kilometers, whether civilian or military, a legitimate target for its forces.”
The warning comes as Hezbollah continues to ramp up its attacks on IDF military posts and against northern Israeli communities.
The Lebanese news outlet reported that Hezbollah’s response was clear: “The enemy’s implementation of this threat means that Hezbollah will respond in kind, considering everything that moves within a distance of 3 kilometers deep into the occupied Palestinian territories a legitimate target, whether civilian or militarily.”
The security situation along Israel’s northern border has been steadily deteriorating since Gaza’s ruling Hamas terrorist organization — also backed by Iran — launched a war against Israel. In recent days it appeared that Hezbollah was coordinating its attacks with Hamas, resulting in rocket fire simultaneously aimed at Israel on the northern and southern borders.
The invaders infiltrated military bases and civilian communities along the southern border on October 7, slaughtering at least 1,200 people on the holiday of Simchat Torah, which this year fell on Shabbat. The invaders tortured, beheaded, mutilated, raped, beheaded and burned alive entire families and young adults who were attending a music festival dedicated to peace at Kibbutz Re’im, one of the communities along the Gaza border. The terrorists abducted another 240 people from the area, dragging them back into Gaza where 137 are still being held hostage. At least 20 of the captives have been murdered while in Hamas captivity.
