Europe Asia News

During the visit by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz and IDF Deputy Chief of Staff Major General Tamir Yadai to the security zone in southern Lebanon, Northern Command Commander Major General Rafi Milo and field commanders briefed the delegation on ongoing operations in the area. The delegation was also presented with new munitions and weapons systems developed to counter unmanned aerial vehicles.

Referring to operations against the Iranian axis, Netanyahu said: "We have begun dismantling the Iranian axis. We carried out strikes inside Iran and eliminated an existential threat."

Claiming that Hezbollah has been significantly weakened, Netanyahu stated: "They once possessed 150,000 missiles and rockets. Today, only about 8 percent of that remains. We have neutralized a total of 9,000 terrorists, including hundreds in recent weeks."

Netanyahu said the security zones form the basis of Israel's new security doctrine: "We no longer allow terrorist armies to station themselves along our borders. We push them beyond the border and eliminate all above-ground and underground infrastructure used for attacks."

He added that Israel would not withdraw from southern Lebanon until the security threat is fully removed, saying: "As long as Hezbollah remains armed and poses a threat to us, we will stay here."