Netanyahu: Lebanon could face 'destruction like Gaza'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that Lebanon faces "destruction and suffering like we see in Gaza" if its people do not "free" their country from Hezbollah.

"I say to you, the people of Lebanon: Free your country from Hezbollah so that this war can end," he said in a video message on Tuesday, saying that Lebanon used to be called "the pearl of the Middle East" known for its "tolerance and beauty" before "a gang of tyrants and terrorists destroyed it" and turned it into a place of "chaos and war."

Netanyahu added that Iran, which arms and finances Hezbollah, has turned Lebanon into a "stockpile of ammunition and weapons … a forward Iranian military base."

Finally, he said that, following a series of Israeli strikes against its leadership, "Hezbollah is weaker than it has been for many, many years" and that the Lebanese people were now at a "significant crossroads."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed on Tuesday that Israel had "taken out" the likely successors to slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. 

Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Hezbollah's Beirut headquarters on September 27.

Earlier on Tuesday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had suggested that Nasrallah's proposed successor, Hashem Safieddine, "was probably ... eliminated" – news which appears to have been confirmed by Netanyahu, although the Prime Minister mentioned no names.

"We've degraded Hezbollah's capabilities," Netanyahu said in a pre-recorded video message. "We took out thousands of terrorists, including Nasrallah himself and Nasrallah's replacement, and the replacement of the replacement."

The Israeli military also claimed on Tuesday to have killed Suhail Husseini, a senior Hezbollah commander who it said was responsible for logistics, budgets and management.

Hezbollah has neither confirmed nor denied the claims. 

Acting-leader Sheikh Naim Kassem insisted in a defiant video statement earlier Tuesday that the group's military capabilities were still intact.

The European Union's foreign chief Josep Borrell told the European Parliament on Tuesday that the situation in Lebanon is getting worse by the day. Borrell added that a ceasefire must be achieved.

Borell said that, according to data, some 20% of the Lebanese population had been forced to move.

UN humanitarian officials have warned that the same methods of warfare used by Israel that caused high civilian casualties and widespread destruction in Gaza are now being repeated in Lebanon.

They urged for action to avoid the same "spiral of doom" that has plagued Gaza since the war began there.

"We need to do everything we can to stop that from happening," said Matthew Hollingworth, Lebanon country director for the United Nations' World Food Program.

Hollingworth told a press briefing that he spent the first half of the year coordinating WFP's operations in Gaza before taking the helm of its Lebanon office, and was deeply concerned by the similarities.

"It is in my mind from the time I wake until the time I sleep, that we could go into the same sort of spiral of doom... We shouldn't allow that to happen," he said.

James Elder, spokesman for the UN children's agency UNICEF, warned that "the commonalities are unfortunately absolutely there to be seen, whether it is displacement on the ground, impact upon children or language being used ... (to) soften the realities on the ground".

"We are seeing the same patterns that we saw in Gaza," added Jeremy Laurence of the UN rights office.

"The devastation is beyond belief for all people in Lebanon as it is in Gaza. We can't let this happen again," Laurence added.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Tuesday that the replacement of slain Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah may have been eliminated. Gallant did not give further details.

Top Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine was widely expected to succeed Nasrallah, although the group had not made a decision, leaving Sheikh Naim Kassem as the group's acting leader.

Gallant said that Hezbollah "is a battered and broken organization, without significant command and fire capabilities, with a disintegrated leadership following the elimination of Hassan Nasrallah."

"Hezbollah is an organization without a head. Nasrallah was eliminated, his replacement was probably also eliminated," Gallant told officers at the military's northern command center, in a brief video segment distributed by the military.

Hezbollah is an Iran-backed Shiite political party and militant group in Lebanon. It is designated as a terrorist organization by the US, Germany and several Sunni Arab countries. The EU lists its armed wing as a terrorist group.

"There's no one to make decisions, no one to act," Gallant added.

Kassem said in a televised statement on Tuesday that the group still expects to elect a new secretary general.

Hezbollah has continued to suffer major blows to its organizational structure. Yesterday, a strike killed Suhail Husseini, who Israel said was responsible for overseeing logistics, budget and management of the group. 

Israel's army confirmed that some 105 rockets were fired from Lebanon at targets in the Galilee region of Israel and especially at the northern city of Haifa.

Although most of the rockets were intercepted, some also hit the suburbs of Haifa, Israel's third-largest city, the army said. 

A woman was slightly injured on her hand by shrapnel, the Magen David Adom rescue service reported. 

Videos published by newspaper The Times of Israel showed damage to houses and cars in the northern suburb of Kiryat Yam.

Hezbollah had earlier said it had launched a "large rocket salvo" at Haifa and its northern suburb.

Turkey announced that it will send ships to Lebanon to evacuate around 2,000 of its citizens on Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

The ministry said in a statement that two Turkish ships will leave a port in the southern Turkish province of Mersin for Beirut on Tuesday. Officials said the evacuation process would continue in the following days if necessary.

Some 14,000 citizens of Turkey are estimated to be residing in Lebanon.

Last week, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said guidelines for the evacuation of third countries' citizens via Turkey were also determined, adding that necessary preparations were underway in cooperation with nearly 20 countries that have requested support.

Iran warned Israel against attacking its infrastructure, vowing heavy consequences.

"Any attack against infrastructure in Iran will provoke an even stronger response," state television quoted Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi as saying.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps General Rassul Sanairad had also warned Israel on Sunday that any attack on nuclear or energy sites would cross a "red line."

An official statement on Monday quoted Araghchi as saying Iran did not seek war in the region.

Major international airlines canceled flights to the region amid concerns over a wider conflict, with Israel's commercial hub of Tel Aviv and Lebanon's capital Beirut most affected.

US airline Delta, Germany's Lufthansa and Italy's ITA Airways all canceled flights to Tel Aviv until October 31, while low-budget UK carrier EasyJet extended its flight suspensions until March 30, 2025. Air India has suspended its flights to Tel Aviv until further notice.

The French and Dutch group Air France-KLM extended its flight suspensions to Beirut to October 26, while Turkish airline Pegasus canceled flights to Beirut until October 28. UAE's Emirates airline canceled flights to Beirut through October 15, while others, like Algeria's Air Algerie and Qatar Airways, suspended flights to Lebanon indefinitely.

Other cities in the vicinity of the conflict have also been affected. Qatar's national carrier also suspended flights to Iran and Iraq, while Spanish low-cost carrier Vueling canceled flights to Amman, Jordan until further notice.

A major route connecting Iran and Lebanon has also been suspended, with Iran Air canceling all flights to and from Beirut until further notice.

Hezbollah's deputy leader, Naim Kassem, said in a televised address on Tuesday that the group's capabilities were intact and its fighters were repelling Israeli ground incursions despite the "painful blows" the militant group suffered in recent weeks.

Kassem warned that more Israelis will be displaced as the militant group expands its rocket fire deeper into Israel.

"We are firing hundreds of rockets and dozens of drones. A large number of settlements and cities are under the fire of the resistance," Kassem said.

But Hezbollah's acting leader also said the group supported the efforts by Lebanon's Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri to secure a cease-fire. He did not provide any further details on possible conditions Hezbollah demands.

The group previously said a cease-fire in Lebanon would be reliant on a cease-fire in Gaza.

Kassem said that Hezbollah is expected to name a new leader to succeed Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut last month, "but the circumstances are difficult because of the war."

The Israeli military said on Tuesday that ground operations in southwest Lebanon had begun in a move that would expand its incursions to a new zone in its ongoing fight with the militant group Hezbollah.

Iran-backed Hezbollah is considered a terrorist organization by the US, Germany and several Sunni Arab countries, while the EU lists its armed wing as a terrorist group.

"Yesterday (Monday), the 146th Division began limited, localized, targeted operational activities against Hezbollah terror targets and infrastructure in southwestern Lebanon," the military said in a statement on its Telegram channel.

The announcement comes after Israel's military struck Beirut's southern suburbs overnight, saying a senior Hezbollah official responsible for the group's budgeting and logistics had been killed.

The Israel Defense Forces have also imposed a naval blockade stretching 60 kilometers (37 miles) along Lebanon's southern Mediterranean coast. The IDF warned civilians that going to beaches or heading out to sea on boats is "life-threatening" until further notice.

jcg/ab (AFP, dpa, Reuters, AP)