Israel Warns Hezbollah Against Violating Ceasefire: 'We Will Crush You'

Israel Katz, Israel's Defense Minister, warned Hezbollah during a visit to his country's military positions in southern Lebanon not to violate the current ceasefire. The Defense Minister stated, "We have pulled the snake's fangs, and if Hezbollah does not retreat above the Litani River and violates the ceasefire agreement, we will crush its head." Katz further stated, "We will not allow Hezbollah operatives to return to the villages in southern Lebanon and re-establish terrorist infrastructure that poses a threat to communities in northern Israel." According to him, Israel will ensure the elimination of the threat and the safe return of residents in the north of the country to their homes. Following the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime, Naeem Qassem, the leader of Hezbollah, admitted that this militant group lost its most important route for obtaining weapons from the Islamic Republic of Iran, namely the route through Syria. Hezbollah, which has been the 'strongest' among the Iranian-backed militias, suffered severely in Israeli attacks after its unilateral entry into the Hamas conflict with Israel, with most of its senior commanders, including the former Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, and thousands of its members targeted in deadly Israeli strikes. These conflicts intensified in the fall of this year and ended with the signing of a ceasefire agreement in late November. Israel targeted infrastructure related to arms smuggling in Lebanon and Syria, including border crossings, smuggling convoys, and weapons production facilities, to halt Hezbollah's arms supply. Benjamin Netanyahu: The Islamic Republic is still in shock from our attacks. Reuters: The Iranian regime is Netanyahu's next target. Netanyahu: I discussed the necessity of 'victory' over the Islamic Republic with Trump. Netanyahu: Israel will destroy the 'axis of evil' of the Islamic Republic in the region. Biden: The incapacity of the Iranian regime, Russia, and Hezbollah led to Assad's downfall.