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Israeli legislator says Beirut’s Dahiyeh ‘will look like Gaza’
Nissim Vaturi, an Israeli legislator from Netanyahu’s Likud party, has said that “it’s a matter of days” before Israel’s conflict with Hezbollah develops into a full-on war.
Speaking to Israel’s Kan public broadcaster, Vaturi laid out his plan for the war, calling for preemptive aerial bombardment lasting for up to five days followed by a ground invasion.
The legislator, who is also a member of Israel’s Foreign Affairs and Security Committee, claimed that Netanyahu shared his views. “Dahiyeh will look like Gaza, there is no other way,” he added, referring to the southern suburb of Beirut.
If Israel does attack Dahiyeh, it would not be the first time. The Israeli army levelled entire neighbourhoods there in 2006 during the last war with Hezbollah. The suburb is home to hundreds of thousands of people, including many supporters of Hezbollah from southern Lebanon.
Vaturi’s comments come as Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib told Al Jazeera that Israel has conveyed through mediators that it is not interested in reaching a ceasefire with Lebanon, even if a deal is made to end the war in Gaza.
Israeli opposition leader says military focus needs to shift to Lebanon
Benny Gantz, the head of Israel’s National Unity Alliance, said the Israeli military had crossed a “decisive point” in Gaza and “should concentrate” on its northern border with Lebanon.
“The story of Hamas is old news,” Gantz said, speaking at an event in Washington, DC, according to the AFP news agency. “The story of Iran and its proxies all around the area and what they are trying to do is the real issue.”
Gantz, who quit IsraeI’s war cabinet in June and is Netanyahu’s main political rival, has said the Israeli prime minister is the main obstacle to reaching a ceasefire deal in Gaza.
Lebanon’s PM to hold ’emergency’ meeting with Western diplomats on Israel
Lebanon’s caretaker PM Najib Mikati has invited Western diplomats for an “emergency meeting” at the government palace to discuss Israel’s ongoing “violations of Lebanon’s sovereignty and aggressions”.
Mikati called for the meeting after three civil defence volunteers were killed in an Israeli strike in the southern Lebanese town of Froun on Friday.
Mikati said the aim of the meeting is “to hold everyone accountable for stopping the ongoing Israeli aggression against Lebanon and to pressure the Israeli enemy, which ignores any law and continues to fuel its crimes against Lebanon and the Lebanese people”.
Lebanon looking for diplomatic solution amid rising Israeli attacks
There is concern in Lebanon because there has been an uptick in violence along the border, where Hezbollah and Israel have been trading near-daily fire since October.
Caretaker PM Mikati has summoned Western ambassadors to attend an emergency meeting which is still under way. The Lebanese government is not directly involved in this conflict, but it has been trying to reach out to Western nations to find some sort of diplomatic solution and to restrain Israel.
But the confrontations cannot end as long as the war on Gaza continues because Hezbollah has conditioned a halt to firing to an end to the war on Gaza. What Israel wants is security guarantees along the border in order for tens of thousands of residents to return to their homes.
In recent days, Israel has intensified its attacks on what it calls Hezbollah’s assets close to the border. For Hezbollah, too, there has been a sharp increase in the number of rockets it has launched at northern Israel. And there was a drone attack a few hours ago that targeted a residential building in Nahariya.
US military chief in Israel, presented with ‘operational plans in Lebanon’
US military Central Command (CENTCOM) chief Michael Kurilla is in Israel and met its military chief Herzi Halevi and other military officials.
According to the Israeli military, the latest in numerous visits since Iran’s expected retaliation for the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh focused on “current threats, with an emphasis on threats from Lebanon and Iran in the northern arena”.
Kurilla was accompanied by the head of the Israeli Northern Command to an underground war room where he was presented with what the Israeli military said were “operational plans for Lebanon”.
The US general met Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on Sunday.
US CENTCOM chief Michael Kurilla meets with Israeli military chief Herzi Halevi in Israel on Monday, September 9
