Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to press for his country’s offensive against Lebanon’s Hezbollah at the United Nations on Friday, dashing hopes of a 21-day ceasefire proposed by France and the United States this week.
Netanyahu’s much-anticipated turn at the United Nations, during which he repeatedly condemned the global organization as anti-Israel, was jeered by some delegates who walked out, but applauded by his supporters.
“As long as Hezbollah chooses the path of war, Israel has no choice and Israel has every right to eliminate this threat and return our citizens safely to their homes,” Netanyahu told the UN General Assembly. “
“We will continue to degrade Hezbollah until all of our objectives are achieved.”
His comments appeared to undermine a ceasefire proposal put forward by the United States and France after a meeting between President Joe Biden and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the United Nations Assembly.
The White House has said the call for a ceasefire was “coordinated” with Israel, but Netanyahu’s office said Thursday that the prime minister has not responded to the proposal.
Netanyahu threatened Iran in his address to the United Nations, saying, “I have a message for the tyrants in Tehran. If you attack us, we will attack you.”
“There is no place in Iran that Israel’s long arms cannot reach, and this is true for the entire Middle East,” he said.
As Netanyahu took the stage for his speech, delegates including those from Lebanon, Iran and the Palestinians walked out of the room.
“When I heard the lies and slander leveled against my country by many of the speakers on this stage, I decided to come here and set matters straight,” Netanyahu said at the beginning of his speech.
Ahead of his appearance, protesters gathered outside Netanyahu’s hotel in New York to demand an end to violence in Gaza and Lebanon.
‘The deadliest period’
Deadly cross-border shootings have taken place between Hezbollah and Israel since Hamas, the Palestinian affiliate of the Iran-backed group, attacked Israel on October 7.
Netanyahu vowed on Friday that “Hamas must go” and that it would have no role in rebuilding Gaza as he vowed to fight until “complete victory”.
Since Monday, Israel has shifted its focus from Gaza to its northern front with Lebanon, where heavy bombardment has killed 700 people and displaced some 118,000.
The United Nations said on Friday that the “devastating” intensity of Israeli strikes targeting Hezbollah militants is causing Lebanon to face its “deadliest period in a generation”.
The Israeli attacks bring the total number of people killed in the nearly year-long conflict in Lebanon to more than 1,500, according to Lebanese officials.
This number surpasses the 1,200 mostly civilians killed during the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, in which about 160 Israelis were also killed, most of them soldiers.
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