Netanyahu says Israel must defeat Hezbollah in UN speech amid ceasefire calls

In a defiant speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country was determined to defeat both Hezbollah and Hamas, issuing a stern warning to the groups’ chief backer Iran.

“I have a message for the tyrants in Tehran,” Netanyahu said. “If you shoot us, we will shoot you, there is no place. There is no place in Iran that Israel’s long arm cannot reach.”

The Israeli army, which appears to support Netanyahu’s words with action, carried out what the Israel Defense Forces described as “a decisive attack on the headquarters of the Hezbollah terrorist organization” in Beirut shortly after he finished his speech on Friday.

Multiple sources told ABC News that the target of the attack was Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

It was not immediately clear whether the attack was successful, but the scale of the bombing raised immediate concern among U.S. officials, who have been applying sustained diplomatic pressure on Iran to prevent the country from increasing its role in the conflict.

Increasing conflict in Lebanon has some officials fearing an all-out war in the region. The Biden administration is trying to persuade Israel to accept the 21-day ceasefire offer prepared by the United States and France.

The Israeli government, which initially rejected the plan outright, softened its stance on Thursday, signaling its willingness to negotiate.

But Netanyahu did not mention the plan in his nearly 30-minute speech on Friday, nor did he mention maintaining diplomatic peace with Hezbollah.

The prime minister said Israel “will continue to humiliate Hezbollah until all our goals are achieved” and that Israel “must defeat” them.

“As long as Hezbollah chooses the path of war, Israel has no choice, and Israel has the right to eliminate this threat and return our citizens safely to their homes, and that is exactly what we are doing,” he said.

Netanyahu claimed that the United States would not tolerate a similar situation on its border “even for one day.”

As Netanyahu began his UN speech in New York, several United Nations delegates left the room.

The Prime Minister said, “I had no intention of coming here this year. My country is at war, fighting for its life.” “But after hearing the lies and slander against my country from so many speakers on this platform, I decided to come here and make amends.”

Netanyahu continued to press for “complete victory” in Gaza, calling on Hamas to surrender and release all remaining Israeli hostages. He also said Israel rejected any scenario in which Hamas would remain in control of Gaza after the war.

The prime minister also claimed that criticism of Israel’s human rights record was unwarranted, saying that Israel helped send more than adequate food supplies to Gaza and continued to “spare no effort” to protect civilian lives.

“We don’t want to see one person die, not one innocent person. That’s always a tragedy. That’s why we’re doing so much to minimize civilian casualties,” he said.

But US officials say Israel’s record in Gaza has been checkered. A report published by the State Department in May found that the Israeli government was uncooperative in efforts to move aid to the region in the early months of the war against Hamas.

The same report also noted that although Israel had the “knowledge, experience and tools” to implement “best practices for mitigating harm to civilians,” the high number of civilian casualties “raises significant questions about whether the IDF uses them effectively in all situations.” ” he stated. “

U.S. officials have expressed similar concerns about collateral damage from Israel’s military action in Lebanon.

More than 118,000 people were displaced in Lebanon last week alone, according to the UN. Lebanon’s Ministry of Health also said at the time that hundreds of people were killed, but it is unclear how many were combatants.

The prime minister’s office said Netanyahu will return to Israel earlier than previously planned. He also posted a photo of himself approving the strike on the phone while sitting at a table in New York.