Israel’s enemies ‘fighting for survival,’ Netanyahu says after Southern Lebanon visit

Israel’s enemies are “fighting simply for their own survival,” though “there is still work to be done,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a visit to the security zone in Southern Lebanon on Sunday.

Netanyahu toured the area alongside Defense Minister Israel Katz, Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and OC Northern Command Maj. Gen. Rafi Milo.

“The war continues, including inside the security zone in Lebanon, where I was just a short while ago,” the premier said in a statement following the visit.

The military “thwarted the threat of an invasion from Lebanon thanks to this security zone,” Netanyahu declared, adding, “We are pushing away the danger of anti-tank fire and addressing the high-trajectory rockets, but there is still work to be done.

“We have essentially changed the face of the Middle East,” he continued. “Our enemies—Iran and the Axis of Evil—came to destroy us, and now they are fighting simply for their own survival. We see this in every single arena.”

The premier hailed the developments as a “massive achievement for the State of Israel and the IDF, our regular troops and our wonderful reservists.”

Iranian-backed Hezbollah began firing rockets, missiles and suicide drones at Israel on March 2, in retaliation for the Jewish state’s targeted killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Khamenei was killed in the opening strikes of the war.

In response to the terrorist organization’s violation of the U.S.-brokered Nov. 27, 2024, truce agreement, Jerusalem launched an aerial campaign against Hezbollah and ordered IDF troops to advance and take control of additional areas in Southern Lebanon to halt cross-border attacks.

Katz, in a separate statement following the visit to Lebanon on Sunday, stressed that residents of Southern Lebanon “will not return as long as the security of northern [Israeli] residents has not been ensured.”

As part of what the has been dubbed “Operation Silver Plow,” the IDF is working to destroy Lebanese homes along the border, “because time and again they return to being terror outposts,” the defense minister said.

“We are simply removing the threat. We saw in Gaza how this ultimately works,” he added. “The objective here is clear—to change this situation. We will continue; we are determined.”

On Sunday evening, the military announced that Israeli ground forces had eliminated the terrorists who killed IDF Staff Sgt. Touvel Yosef Lifshiz, 20, from Beit She’an, on April 7.

During a follow-up raid on terrorist infrastructure late last week, soldiers of the Golani Brigade’s 13th “Gideon” Infantry Battalion identified a terrorist armed with a Kalashnikov-type weapon hiding under rubble, according to the statement. The troops engaged the terrorist, eliminating him with “close-range fire,” the military added. A sweep of the building revealed that a second terrorist had been eliminated in the initial exchange of fire in which Lifshiz died.

On the day of Lifshiz funeral, the soldiers “returned together with the battalion’s entire combat team to fight—at the same point, the same place—and eliminated, with a soldier from the platoon and together with several other soldiers, the terrorist right in this very room,” the 13th Battalion’s commander, Lt. Col. “M.” said in a video statement.

“The IDF shares in the family’s grief and will continue to accompany them,” added the statement.

Civilian shields

Also last week, soldiers of the IDF’s Givati ​​Brigade killed Hezbollah terrorists operating from inside a Lebanese government hospital in the Bint Jbeil area, the army revealed on Sunday.

“Several terrorists were identified observing from a hospital window and opening fire toward our forces. Within a short time, the forces eliminated the terrorists. In addition, approximately 20 terrorists were targeted and eliminated in the hospital area to remove an immediate threat,” according to the statement, which noted that a weapons cache was discovered during a subsequent raid of the compound.

The military accused Hezbollah of “systematically and repeatedly” using the hospital’s buildings to carry out acts of terrorism, in a “serious violation of international law.”

“The IDF operates in accordance with international law, and clarified before the operation to the relevant Lebanese authorities that all military activity within hospitals in Lebanon must cease, and disseminated these warnings through various channels. Despite this, Hezbollah continued to use the hospital for military activity,” it stated.

In a separate statement on Monday, the IDF announced that it had dismantled underground terrorist infrastructure built by Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon.

The tunnel was used for “planning and advancing terror activities against IDF soldiers,” according to the military. The tunnel was dismantled after soldiers “completed searches and operational inspections inside it.

“The IDF will continue to operate against the Hezbollah terrorist organization and will not allow any harm to the civilians of the State of Israel,” added the statement.

Air-raid sirens warning of incoming rocket and UAV attacks emanating from Lebanese territory continued to blare across northern Israel on Monday morning, including in Metula and Rosh Hanikra. No injuries were reported in Hezbollah’s most recent aerial assaults.

The IDF Home Front Command on Saturday night announced the suspension of educational activities and restricted public gatherings in the north following an assessment that Hezbollah would intensify attacks on border communities.

The restrictions had been relaxed on April 9 following the announcement of a two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran.