Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the security strip in southern Lebanon today (Tuesday), along with Defense Minister Israel Katz, Deputy Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Tamir Yadai, National Security Chief Shmuel Ben Ezra, and Military Secretary Maj. Gen. Guy Marchisano.
During the visit, Netanyahu and Katz received an operational overview from Northern Command Commander Major General Rafi Milo, the commander of Division 91, and the commanders of the brigades operating in the field.
In addition, they were shown a demonstration of new weapons and capabilities to deal with the drone threat.
In a meeting with the fighters, the Prime Minister said: "I come here together with the Minister of Defense and the Deputy Chief of Staff, and the Commander-in-Chief and your commanders with whom I spoke, the IDF and the brigade commanders, and I salute you. You did a huge job here, and essentially what we did was we took the Iranian axis and started to crush it. We attacked Iran itself, something that no one believed, and we removed an existential threat.".
Netanyahu added: "The most important link in the Iranian axis was here - Hezbollah. There were 150,000 missiles and rockets, which is the densest concentration of missiles and rockets on Earth. Today they have about 8% left. It's still significant, but it's no longer what it was. In your activity, we eliminated 9,000 terrorists, hundreds of terrorists in recent weeks. And of course, the main thing we did - and this is what you are doing here - is to create buffer zones, security zones, not on our side of the border - but on their side. So we are doing it in Lebanon. We did it in Gaza.".
Netanyahu emphasized: "These security zones - it's a change in perception. It means that we don't let an army of terrorists sit on our border. And we keep them away - that's what you're doing. And we destroy everything above ground and underground, which essentially served them as a means of attack against us. Infiltration, attack, terror tunnels, terror villages - all of that goes. That's the directive: don't leave, and you're doing it.".
The Prime Minister later clarified the freedom of action given to the forces on the ground: "I think the most important thing for you to know - is first of all that our directive, mine and the Minister of Defense, the Chief of Staff and the Deputy Chief of Staff - is first of all to defend yourself. If you identify a threat to your security, to your lives, to your soldiers - to act. Don't wait. To act - this is an ironclad directive.".
Netanyahu also addressed the situation in Lebanon: "Because we achieved thanks to your action here - Lebanon recognizes Israel, Israel recognizes Lebanon, and they say to both Iran and Hezbollah: Get out of here, you have nothing to do here. There are two sovereign states, wanting to make peace between them, wanting to truly restore a reality of security and prosperity to the residents of the north and also to the residents of Lebanon. 'You need to get out.' This is a slap in the face, this is a punch in the face of the Iranian axis, and this will not necessarily pass quietly.".
He concluded his remarks with a message about the continued military presence in the region: "We are very proud of what we have achieved thanks to your courageous action and the decisions we have made. Our insistence is that we will not leave southern Lebanon until the threat is eliminated. And as long as Hezbollah, armed, is here, threatening us - we will stay here.".
