Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar told Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the U.N.'s special coordinator for Lebanon, that weakening Hezbollah is in Jerusalem and Beirut’s mutual interest.
“Over the past week, there have been more attacks against Israel from Lebanese territory than from Iran,” he told Hennis-Plasschaert during the meeting in Jerusalem on Monday, according to a readout from the Israeli MFA.
“I stated that Hezbollah joined the war following Iranian pressure, as it did on Oct. 8,” the top diplomat tweeted, in reference to the Iranian-backed terrorist organization’s cross-border attacks in the wake of the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in southern Israel, which ended on Nov. 27, 2024, following a U.S.-brokered ceasefire with Lebanon.
The deployment of Israel Defense Forces soldiers to Southern Lebanon is “critical for preventing an invasion of Hezbollah’s ground forces and attacks against Israeli citizens and communities,” Sa’ar continued.
Sa’ar said he had “detailed our decision not to evacuate our residents from northern communities this time, and stressed our commitment to protect them.”
“Hezbollah initiated an attack against us,” Sa’ar told the envoy, “and no member of the international community is acting to stop it besides us.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Beirut on Saturday that if it fails to uphold the truce, which requires it to disarm Hezbollah, its aggression “will bring catastrophic consequences upon Lebanon.”
“It is time for you, too, to take your destiny into your hands,” he told the Lebanese government, declaring that “in any case,” Jerusalem will do “everything necessary to protect our communities and our citizens.”
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Monday accused Hezbollah and Iran of working to “collapse” the Lebanese state and expressed his openness to holding “direct negotiations” with Israel, per AFP.
“Whoever launched those missiles wanted to bring about the collapse of the Lebanese state, plunging it into aggression and chaos … all for the sake of the Iranian regime’s calculations,” he told European officials.
Aoun’s proposal called for “establishing a full truce” with the Jewish state, “logistical support” for the Lebanese Armed Forces to disarm Hezbollah, and direct talks under international auspices.
Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi previously said Hezbollah’s “unlawful activities,” including a “blatant” drone attack on a U.K. military base on Cyprus, defied the will of the Lebanese people.
“We will not allow Lebanon to be turned into a platform for Iranian agendas,” Beirut’s top diplomat had tweeted on Sunday evening.
