Netanyahu warns of ‘intense war’ if Hezbollah violates ceasefire, threatens Iran over nuclear weapons

As the IDF struck a Hezbollah military depot 48 hours into the fragile truce, Benjamin Netanyahu warned Hezbollah against any breach and said he would ‘do anything’ to stop Iran acquiring nuclear weapons.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to reporters. Picture: AFP.

Benjamin Netanyahu has issued a twin threat against Hezbollah and Iran, warning of an “intensive war” if the Lebanese militant group violates the two day old ceasefire, while saying he would do “everything” to stop Iran acquiring nuclear weapons.

As the Israeli Defence Forces carried out an air strike on a Hezbollah facility in southern Lebanon and fired warning shots at suspects who approached off-limits border areas, Mr Netanyahu told Israeli TV: “If necessary, I gave a directive to the (Israeli army)” to wage “an intensive war” in the event of any breach.

In his first interview since the start of the ceasefire, the Israeli Prime Minister added that the response would extend beyond “surgical operations like we’re doing now.”

Israeli Army vehicles in the Israeli border city of Kiryat Shmona following the ceasefire agreement. Picture: Getty Images.

Amid concerns over the fragility of the truce, on Friday (AEDT) fighter jets struck the facility, which was used to hold medium-range rockets, after identifying activity there, according to the military.

“The IDF is deployed in southern Lebanon, acting and thwarting any violation of the ceasefire agreement,” the IDF said.

“A short while ago, terrorist activity was identified in a facility used by Hezbollah to store mid-range rockets in southern Lebanon,” the Israeli military added, saying “the threat was thwarted” by its air force.

In a post on X, the IDF said the site was Hezbollah’s largest precision-guided missiles manufacturing site.

“Precision-guided missiles and surface-to-surface missiles were just a few components of Hezbollah’s deadly arsenal that were produced at this site near the Syria-Lebanon border,” it added.

Yesterday, Hezbollah had a precision-guided missile manufacturing site—today, they don’t.

Hezbollah’s largest precision-guided missiles manufacturing site, 1.4km wide and 70m underground, was struck and dismantled by IAF fighter jets yesterday.

Precision-guided missiles and… pic.twitter.com/Tct7DiXwfq

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) November 27, 2024

Mr Netanyahu also said he was prepared to do “everything” to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons, telling Channel 14: “I will do everything to prevent it from becoming a nuclear (power), I will use all the resources that can be used.”

Mr Netanyahu made the comments after Iran’s top diplomat warned it could end its ban on developing nuclear weapons if Western sanctions are reimposed.

The renewed war of words came as Iran prepares to hold key nuclear talks with European governments on Friday which have been overshadowed by their joining with Washington to have Tehran censured by the UN atomic watchdog.

Israel is the region’s sole, if undeclared, nuclear-armed state. It has long made preventing any rival from matching it its top defence priority.

When Mr Netanyahu announced the ceasefire with Hezbollah on Wednesday (AEDT), he said the truce would allow Israel to focus on Iran. He did not elaborate on what action he envisaged, but Iran has vowed to retaliate to Israel’s October strike on its missile defences before Donald Trump is inaugurated on January 20.

Last week’s chiding at the International Atomic Energy Agency prompted a defiant response from Tehran, but its officials have since signalled willingness to engage with others ahead of Mr Trump’s return

Iran insists on its right to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, but according to the IAEA, it is the only non-nuclear-weapon state enriching uranium to 60 per cent.

In an interview with The Guardian newspaper, published on the eve of Iran’s talks with Britain, France and Germany, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned that frustration in Tehran over unmet commitments, such as lifting sanctions, was fuelling debate over whether the country should alter its nuclear policy.

“We have no intention to go further than 60 per cent for the time being, and this is our determination right now,” he told the newspaper

But, he added, “there is this debate going on in Iran, and mostly among the elites … whether we should change our nuclear doctrine” as so far it has proven to be “insufficient in practice”.

‘Actively enforce violations’

Hours earlier, the IDF said it would “actively enforce violations” of its ceasefire with Hezbollah after firing at “several suspects” in southern Lebanon that it said had breached the conditions of the agreement.

Lebanese official media said Israeli fire wounded two people in a border village on Thursday, a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah came into effect.

A Lebanese military source said the armed forces were extending their deployment in the country’s south, without approaching Israeli-controlled areas, following the ceasefire that ended two months of all-out war and more than a year of hostilities.

Lebanon’s official National News Agency said two people were wounded in the village of Markaba “due to the enemy targeting” of a square in the village.

The Israeli army said it opened fire towards suspects in parts of southern Lebanon.

“Over the past hour, several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire,” the Israel Defence Forces said in a statement.

“The IDF opened fire toward them. The IDF remains in southern Lebanon and will actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”

Lebanon’s military deployed troops and tanks across the country’s south on Thursday as a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war largely held for a second day.

The truce ended a war that began a day after Hamas’s unprecedented October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, killing thousands in Lebanon and sparking mass displacements in both Lebanon and Israel.

Israel shifted its focus from Gaza to Lebanon in September to secure its northern border from Hezbollah attacks, dealing the Iran-backed Shiite Muslim movement a series of staggering blows.

Under the terms of the ceasefire, the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers were to become the only armed presence in south Lebanon, where Hezbollah has long held sway.

A Lebanese military source, requesting anonymity to discuss security matters, said that “the army continues to gradually deploy in the south Litani region on Thursday, conducting patrols and setting up checkpoints, without advancing into points where the Israeli (military) is still present”.

The NNA reported Israeli artillery shelling on a number of border villages, saying the Israeli army targeted “the Taybeh square and the town of Khiam and the Marjayoun plain with artillery shells”.

It also reported the sound of automatic weapons in Khiam and said an Israeli “Merkava tank shot a shell at the village of Wazzani”.

Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee on X early Thursday repeated a warning to Lebanese residents not to return to areas adjacent to the border, listing a series of villages and towns along the frontier.

The Israeli and Lebanese militaries have both called on residents of frontline villages to avoid returning home immediately, though people have been going back to the south in large numbers.

Under the US and French brokered ceasefire, the Israeli army has 60 days to gradually withdraw from south Lebanon.

The Israeli army has not yet announced any pullout from the region, which Hezbollah also has to evacuate.

On Wednesday, Lebanon’s army said it had “begun reinforcing its presence in the South Litani sector”.

Residents buy vegetables from an ambulant vendor stationed amid the destruction in the neighbourhood of Shiyah in Beirut's southern suburbs on November 28, a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect. Picture: AFP

In the border village of Qlayaa, residents threw rice and flowers to celebrate the arrival of Lebanese soldiers.

Since the ceasefire took effect on Wednesday, tens of thousands of Lebanese who fled their homes have headed back to their towns and villages, only to find scenes of devastation.

“Despite all the destruction and the sorrow, we are happy to be back,” said Umm Mohammed Bzeih, a widow who fled the southern village of Zibqin with her four children two months ago.

“I feel as if our souls have returned,” she said, visibly exhausted as she swept up the shattered glass and pieces of stones that carpeted the floor.

AFP