Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday convened the Security Cabinet at the Israel Defense Forces’ Northern Command headquarters in the Upper Galilee city of Safed.
Netanyahu participated in a security briefing on “operational activity in Lebanon” led by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi and OC Northern Command Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin, the Prime Minister’s Office said.
Among other issues, the Cabinet was briefed on ongoing efforts to seize weapons and ammunition positioned by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorist group in warehouses and homes in Southern Lebanon.
Netanyahu and the Cabinet ministers were presented with a display of weapons confiscated by IDF troops during the invasion of Lebanon.
The prime minister also visited a mock tunnel modeled after terrorist infrastructure discovered by soldiers in Lebanon and reconstructed by the military for “demonstration and teaching purposes,” the PMO said.
Earlier on Sunday, Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed to “crush” Hezbollah if it violates the Nov. 26 truce deal.
“We defanged the snake, and if Hezbollah does not withdraw beyond the Litani [River] and tries to violate the ceasefire, we will crush its head,” Katz said in a statement.
“We will not allow Hezbollah to return to the southern [Lebanese] villages to reestablish the terror infrastructure that poses a threat to the northern [Israeli] communities,” he added. “We will ensure the restoration of security to allow the residents of the north to return safely to their homes.”
The IDF continues to destroy Hezbollah terrorist assets in Southern Lebanon, including what the army said on Sunday was a combat compound containing eight weapon storage facilities.
Under the terms of the ceasefire deal reached with Beirut, Israeli forces are to withdraw gradually from the country over a 60-day period.
Hezbollah must retreat north of the Litani, about 20 miles north of the border, while the Lebanese Armed Forces deploy along the 75-mile frontier, along with monitors from the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
