Netanyahu Visits IDF Troops in Southern Lebanon, Vows to Stay

“We will not leave southern Lebanon until the threat is eliminated,” Netanyahu said.

By United with Israel Staff

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Israeli forces inside the security zone in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, vowing that the IDF will remain there until Hezbollah is disarmed and no longer poses a threat to northern Israel.

Netanyahu was joined by Defense Minister Israel Katz and Deputy IDF Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Tamir Yadai. The leaders received operational briefings from Northern Command chief Maj. Gen. Rafi Milo, the commander of the 91st Division, and brigade commanders deployed in the field.

During the visit, Netanyahu and Katz were also shown new weapons and ammunition designed to help counter the growing drone threat.

Speaking to soldiers, Netanyahu praised their operations and said Israel had dealt major blows to Iran and its regional proxy network.

“We took the Iranian axis and began crushing it,” Netanyahu said. “We struck inside Iran itself, something no one believed, and we removed an existential threat.”

Netanyahu said Hezbollah had once possessed roughly 150,000 missiles and rockets, calling it “the highest density of missiles and rockets on planet Earth.” Today, he said, Hezbollah has about eight percent of that arsenal remaining.

“It is still significant, but it is no longer what it was,” he said.

The prime minister said Israeli operations have eliminated thousands of terrorists and have created a new security reality along Israel’s borders.

“These security zones are a paradigm shift,” Netanyahu said. “The meaning is that we no longer allow an army of terrorists to have a foothold on our border. We push them back.”

He said the IDF is destroying aboveground and underground terrorist infrastructure, including infiltration routes, attack positions, terror tunnels, and villages used by Hezbollah for military purposes.

“This is the directive: Leave nothing behind,” Netanyahu told the soldiers.

Netanyahu also emphasized that troops should act immediately if they identify a threat.

“If you identify a threat to your security, to your lives or the lives of your soldiers, act. Do not wait; act. This is an ironclad directive,” he said.

Referring to the newly signed U.S.-backed framework between Israel and Lebanon, Netanyahu said Lebanon’s recognition of Israel and Israel’s recognition of Lebanon were the result of Israel’s military achievements in the area.

“There are two sovereign states that want to make peace between them,” he said, adding that Iran and Hezbollah must leave Lebanon.

Netanyahu warned that the agreement represented a major setback for the Iranian axis, but said Israel is prepared for continued challenges.

“Our insistence is that we will not leave southern Lebanon until the threat is eliminated,” Netanyahu said. “As long as Hezbollah is armed and present here, posing a threat to us, we will remain here.”