The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, stated this Sunday that Hezbollah is ''in retreat'' in the face of the Israeli military offensive in southern Lebanon, while announcing new bombings against the southern suburbs of Beirut and claiming that Israeli forces have eliminated hundreds of fighters from the terrorist group over the past week.
The statements reflect the persistence of clashes despite the recently renewed ceasefire between the governments of Israel and Lebanon, an agreement aimed at containing an escalation that threatens to further extend instability in the Middle East.
During the weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu asserted that the Israel Defense Forces continue dismantling the military infrastructure of Hezbollah in the areas near the border. According to the leader, Israeli troops have taken strategic positions and uncovered extensive underground facilities used by the armed organization.
''We are completing the elimination of the terrorist villages near the border. We are attacking them decisively and we know that Hezbollah is in retreat,'' the Israeli head of government stated. He also warned that any attack against Israeli territory will receive an immediate and decisive military response.
Netanyahu's words came just hours after the Israeli Army intercepted two rockets fired from Lebanese territory towards northern Israel. This was the first launch attributed to Hezbollah since the latest extension of the truce came into effect and the first since the middle of last week.
Following the interception, Israel claimed to have destroyed the launchers used in the attack and ordered a series of bombings against positions of the Shiite group. Among the targets hit were command centers located in Dahyeh, Hezbollah's political and military stronghold in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
The resumption of attacks highlights the fragility of the agreements reached so far. Although Hezbollah presents itself as a resistance movement, its actions have decisively contributed to dragging Lebanon into a devastating war whose consequences primarily fall on the civilian population. The organization, backed and financed by the Iranian regime, has turned large residential areas into platforms for military operations, exposing entire communities to reprisals and further destroying the weakened Lebanese economy.
