'We must bomb Beirut and crush them,' says Ben-Gvir

BEIRUT — Far-right Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said in an interview on Israeli station Radio Darom, broadcast Saturday, that Israel should "bomb Beirut and crush them," in an apparent reference to Hezbollah fighters. He also criticized what he described as Israel’s “dependence” on the Lebanese Army, without elaborating.

Under the framework agreement signed between Israel and Lebanon in late June, the Lebanese Army is responsible for disarming Hezbollah ahead of an Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon. The army has refused to use force to disarm the Shiite group.

The day after the agreement was signed, Ben-Gvir called it a “big mistake,” saying that “one cannot trust Lebanon to seize the weapons” from Hezbollah and that “only Israeli soldiers” would destroy them.

In forceful but vague remarks, the Israeli national security minister called for Israel to “take more initiative.”

“We must bomb Beirut, we must put an end to this game of cat and mouse and, instead, crush them,” he said, calling for a significant escalation of Israeli military operations in Lebanon. He argued that, given the damage suffered by the Israeli army, isolated responses were no longer sufficient.

According to Ben-Gvir, Israel should “address Hezbollah targets one by one.” “We cannot continue like this,” he said. Whenever an Israeli soldier is hit, Israel must respond “without hesitation.” “From the moment you have casualties, from the moment soldiers are hit, that’s it, that’s the red line,” he added.

The remarks were broadcast on the same day as a deadly escalation by the Israeli army in south Lebanon that killed at least 11 people, including children. The Israeli military said the operation was carried out in response to a Hezbollah drone attack that wounded three Israeli soldiers. Hezbollah, however, has not claimed, as of yet, responsibility for any attack against Israeli troops in occupied Lebanese territory.