Gantz says Lebanon crisis is “devastating”
Israel’s Minister of Defence Benny Gantz toured IDF Northern Command has conducted a situation assessment with the senior commanders following which he was then briefed in the northern town of Shlomi.
Benny Gantz during a briefing session Photo: Ariel Hermoni / IMoD
Accompanying him were the IDF’s Deputy Chief of the General Staff Maj.-Gen. Herzi Halevy, GOC Northern Command Maj.-Gen. Amir Baram, Head of Division 91 Brig.-Gen. Shlomi Binder, and additional senior officials.
Benny Gantz told media: “I have just completed a tour of our northern border together with the Deputy Chief of the General Staff and Head of the IDF Northern Command. The crisis in Lebanon is devastating. The State of Israel calls on the international community to aid Lebanon. We are also willing to provide assistance, however, we will not enable the tragedy in Lebanon to cross the border into Israel. We are well aware of Hezbollah’s attempts to exploit the situation at the expense of the safety and livelihoods of Lebanese citizens – under the direct influence of Iran.”
He added: “Just as we saw in the maritime attack, which claimed the lives of two foreign nationals, Iran is the greatest threat to global and regional peace. Israel will not stand by while Iran advances its nuclear program. We call on the international community to take action and stop Iranian aggression. This is the time for joint action.
At the same time, we will continue to defend ourselves against the Iranian attempt to become an existential threat to the State of Israel and to transfer advanced munitions to its proxies on our borders. We will operate in the time and place and via the means that we will determine.”
