FALCON POWERS – Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich expressed his belief that Israel is on its way to war with the Lebanese Hezbollah, considering that war with the party is inevitable. Smotrich added that “if Hezbollah does not respond to our demands, we must launch a war in the depths of Lebanon”, and said: “I believe we are on the way to war with Hezbollah, there is no avoiding it.”
The head of the Religious Zionism party, in a meeting of his party in the Galilee mountains in the north, called for issuing a warning to Hezbollah to stop the fire and withdraw behind the Litani River.
Smotrich said that “in order for the residents of the north to return to a different security reality and be able to sleep peacefully at night, this war must end with a full military decision by Hezbollah and a security zone in which the Israeli army remains in southern Lebanon.. We will need a deadly attack on Lebanon and its infrastructure, and we will have to destroy Hezbollah’s power.”
At the end of his speech, Smotrich said: “I am turning from here to the Prime Minister with an unequivocal demand to move from mixing to decision. The required steps now are – a cabinet decision regarding the permanent presence of the Israeli army in the entire Gaza Strip and control of the area; completion of the operation along the Philadelphia axis; and issuing a warning to Hezbollah.”
According to Smotrich, a public warning must be issued to Hezbollah, and if the warning is not fully met, the Israeli Defense Forces must launch a defensive attack in the depths of Lebanese territory, including a ground incursion and Israeli military control of southern Lebanon. According to him, “these steps are the only way to provide security for the residents of Israel.”
In response to a question from the Walla website on how it would be possible to launch a campaign in the north without American support, Smotrich said: “We have an excellent relationship with the United States, but countries want to end the war for their own interests, and we are not prepared to accept that, and it is forbidden to accept American dictates in any way.”
