The Hezbollah terrorist organization in Lebanon is playing with fire, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday, after an anti-tank missile attack from the Land of the Cedars killed another Israeli civilian.
“In these exchanges of fire in the north, there is someone who thinks he can expand the attacks against our forces and our civilians,” said Netanyahu, in an apparent reference to Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah.
“Fire will be met by much stronger fire. They should not try us because we have shown only a little of our might. Any attack against us—we will attack those who attack us,” threatened the premier.
Netanyahu made the remarks during a visit to the Israel Defense Forces’ Desert Reconnaissance Battalion, also known as the Bedouin Battalion.
“Jewish and Bedouin commanders are standing shoulder-to-shoulder. ... Our partnership is the future of us all against these savages,” Netanyahu told the mostly Bedouin soldiers.
The battalion also has Christians, non-Bedouin Muslims, Druze and Circassians serving in it.
“We will restore security to the north, and we will restore security to the south. We will restore security to the State of Israel, but first of all, there will be victory here. Hamas will be eliminated,” the prime minister said.
Iran-backed Hezbollah has been testing the waters in recent weeks, initiating a series of fire exchanges as the Jewish state fights Hamas terrorists to the south.
It was cleared for publication on Monday that an Israeli civilian was killed the previous day by a Hezbollah anti-tank missile attack near Moshav Dovev in the Upper Galilee that also wounded 14 others.
Several of the victims were employees of the Israel Electric Corporation working to repair power lines damaged by previous attacks from Lebanon.
The fatality was named by the Israel Electric Corporation as Shalom Aboudi, a 56-year-old father of two from the northern Israeli city of Tiberias.
On Nov. 5, Meir Moyal, 55, was killed when an anti-tank missile from Lebanon hit his car near Kibbutz Yiftah in the Upper Galilee.
Since Oct. 7, at least seven IDF soldiers have been killed in attacks on Israel’s northern border. Many more have been wounded.
On Saturday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that Hezbollah is “close to making a grave mistake” that will result in the residents of Beirut suffering the consequences.
“I am telling the citizens of Lebanon, the residents of Gaza are already walking with white flags and moving south. Hezbollah is dragging Lebanon into a possible war, and it is close to making a grave mistake,” said Gallant.
“The ones who will pay the price are the Lebanese people. What we are doing in Gaza we know how to do in Beirut,” added the minister.
