closeicon
Israel

Hezbollah chief calls Israel a 'cancerous growth' which 'must be destroyed'

A high-level Israeli government security summit will take place to discuss the growing threat from Hezbollah in Lebanon

articlemain

(JNS) Benjamin Netanyahu will hold a high-level security summit on Sunday to discuss the growing threat from Hezbollah in Lebanon, just hours after the groups boss called for Israel's destruction.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and senior Israel Defence Forces officials will brief the Israeli PM on the escalating situation over recent months in a meeting that was delayed a week due to Netanyahu's hospitalisation on July 22. 

Meanwhile, according to Israeli media reports, the IDF is bolstering its forces in the north in preparation for possible provocations by the Iran-backed terror group, which in April established an outpost on the Israeli side of the demarcation line. 

Part of the outpost was removed earlier this month, and Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah has threatened confrontation if Israel attempts to dismantle the rest.

IDF brass are expected to tell Netanyahu that there is an increasing danger of escalation in the north but that the assessment is that Hezbollah is not interested in a broader war, according to Channel 13. 

Nasrallah, according to the IDF, sees Israel’s internal divisions as a “historical weakness,” the report continued.

In a speech in Beirut on Sunday, Nasrallah mentioned Netanyahu’s security summit, accusing the Jewish state of occupying Lebanese territory and calling for its destruction.

"They say that the Israeli prime minister will meet with his generals tomorrow," he added. "I tell them: Hezbollah in Lebanon will not hesitate and will be ready for any development or stupidity on their part."

Nasrallah continued: "The Zionist entity is the source of evil and a cancerous growth in our region. 

“Our region will not calm down until this cancerous growth and this germ of corruption is removed. 

“We in Hezbollah stand by the resistance of the Palestinian people.”

Share via

Want more from the JC?

To continue reading, we just need a few details...

Want more from
the JC?

To continue reading, we just
need a few details...

Get the best news and views from across the Jewish world Get subscriber-only offers from our partners Subscribe to get access to our e-paper and archive