Netanyahu vows at the United Nations that Israel will “continue to degrade Hezbollah” until its goals are achieved

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu signaled to the world Friday from the United Nations that the Middle East’s many conflicts are far from resolved, and he vowed to continue the fight against Lebanon’s Hezbollah and to defeat Hamas in the Defeating Gaza by then would be a “total victory.”

Shortly after the Prime Minister spoke, Explosions rocked the Lebanese capital Beirut and the Israeli military said it attacked Hezbollah headquarters. The exact destination was not immediately clear, but it appeared significant enough to prompt Netanyahu to cut his trip to New York by a day and make an unusual journey on the Jewish Sabbath to get home.

“Israel has every right to eliminate this threat and return our citizens safely to their homeland. And that’s exactly what we’re doing,” Netanyahu said, drawing applause from supporters in the General Assembly gallery. “We will continue to degrade Hezbollah until all of our objectives are achieved,” he said.

As Netanyahu entered the hall and was introduced, boos and loud voices echoed, and many delegates left the hall through various exits.

Netanyahu spoke as international mediation efforts were underway to contain the escalating conflict in Lebanon, where Israel has intensively attacked Hezbollah targets over the past week, pushing Lebanon’s death toll into the hundreds and raising fears that the conflict is escalating could go to total war.

Late Wednesday, the United States, France and other allies joined forces called for an “immediate” 21-day ceasefire to enable negotiations. Israel said on Thursday that discussions were ongoing and Hezbollah had not officially responded to the ceasefire proposal but said it would not stop firing until the Gaza war ends.

A day after Hamas’ October 7 attack, Hezbollah began attacks on Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians. Relatively light exchanges of fire between the sides have occurred almost daily since then, sharply intensifying after a wave of exploding communications devices aimed at Hezbollah operatives – an attack widely attributed to Israel. The fighting has displaced tens of thousands on both sides of the border.

Netanyahu defends Israel’s reactions

Netanyahu has faced increasing pressure from his own government and from Israelis displaced by the fighting to deal a major blow to Hezbollah. The most recent strikes targeted the group’s leadership.

“Imagine if terrorists turned El Paso and San Diego into ghost towns… How long would the American government tolerate that?” he said, shaking his fist emphatically. “Yet Israel tolerated this intolerable situation for almost a year. Well, I came here today to say: enough is enough.”

Netanyahu pointed the finger at Iran for being a destabilizing force in the region and noted that it supports both Hamas and Hezbollah. He warned Tehran: “If you beat us, we will beat you.” As he spoke, the seats in the Iran delegation were empty. Outside, demonstrators demonstrated against Netanyahu and Israel’s policies behind police barricades.

Armed with visual aids, as he has in the past, the prime minister defended his country’s response to Hamas’ attack on Israel, which sparked the war that has devastated the Gaza Strip. He said Israel had destroyed much of Hamas’ rocket arsenal, killed or captured half of its forces and dismantled many of its underground tunnels. He said Israel was “focused on eliminating Hamas’ remaining fighting capabilities.”

But the war in Gaza is almost entering its second year, and there is still no end in sight. Several attempts to bring about a ceasefire have failed because of Hamas’ demands that Israel withdraw all troops and end the war, and Israel’s demand that it maintain a presence in some areas. At the same time, civilians are bearing a staggering toll from the ongoing violence; About 100 hostages remain trapped in Gaza.

Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed more than 41,500 Palestinians and injured more than 96,000 others, according to the latest figures released by the Health Ministry on Thursday. The ministry, which is part of the Hamas government in Gaza, makes no distinction between civilians and combatants, but there was a difference in more than half of the deaths women and childrenincluding around 1,300 children under the age of 2.

Israel has maintained that its military operations are justified and necessary to defend itself.

“This war can end now. “All that needs to happen is for Hamas to surrender, lay down its weapons and release all the hostages,” Netanyahu said. “But if they don’t – if they don’t – we will fight until we achieve complete victory. Total victory. There is no substitute for it. “

His speech influenced the rest of the General Assembly

In a conflict-filled address, Netanyahu also made a lengthy appeal to Israel’s relations with Saudi Arabia, echoing the content of his speech last year when efforts toward that goal were underway. But the U.S.-backed normalization talks were scuttled by Hamas attacks that returned the focus to Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians and cast doubt on Netanyahu’s argument that relations with Saudi Arabia are not dependent on Palestinian statehood .

When Netanyahu took the stage on Friday morning, there was so much commotion in the audience that the presiding diplomat had to shout: “Please order.”

The two speakers who preceded Netanyahu on Friday each made a point of denouncing Israel for its actions. “Mr. “Netanyahu, end this war now,” said Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob as he ended his speech and tapped the podium. And Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in his speech directly to the Israeli leader, stated about Gaza: ” This is not just a conflict. This is a systematic slaughter of innocent people in Palestine.” He drummed on the podium to audible applause.

It wasn’t just Friday either. On Thursday, both the Palestinian Authority leader and a senior Lebanese official raised their concerns with their fellow leaders – instances that included harsh words toward Israel. The first words of Mahmoud Abbas A phrase regarding Gaza was repeated three times to the General Assembly: “We will not go.” We will not go. We will not leave.” He accused Israel of destroying Gaza and making it uninhabitable. And Abdallah Bouhabib, the Lebanese foreign minister, condemned Israel’s “systematic destruction of Lebanese border villages.”

“The crisis in Lebanon threatens the entire Middle East,” Bouhabib said. “Today we would like to reiterate our call for a ceasefire on all fronts.”

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