Netanyahu vows to change ‘balance of power’ with Hezbollah as Israel unleashes heaviest strikes on Lebanon

By Abdelraouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) - Unleashing the heaviest bombardment in Lebanon since last October, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Monday to change the “balance of power” with the Hezbollah group.

"We do not wait for a threat, we anticipate it. Everywhere, in every theater, at any time," Netanyahu said in a statement. "I promised that we would change the security balance, the balance of power in the north.”

The Israeli army struck hundreds of targets in Lebanon on Monday, marking the heaviest bombardment since the onset of hostilities with Hezbollah on Oct. 8, 2023.

Lebanese health authorities said at least 274 people, including 21 children, were killed and 1,024 others injured in Israeli attacks since Monday morning, with thousands of civilians forced to flee their homes.

Netanyahu claimed that the Israeli airstrikes have destroyed "thousands of missiles and rockets aimed at Israeli cities and Israeli citizens."

Tension has mounted between Hezbollah and Israel following a deadly airstrike on Friday that killed at least 45 people, including children and women, and injured dozens in Beirut’s southern suburb.

Hezbollah confirmed that at least 16 of its members, including senior leader Ibrahim Aqil and top commander Ahmed Wahbi, were killed in the Israeli strike.

The attack came two days after at least 37 people were killed and over 3,000 others injured in two waves of wireless communication device explosions across Lebanon.

While the Lebanese government and Hezbollah blame Israel for the explosions, Tel Aviv has not denied or confirmed its involvement.

Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza, which has killed over 41,400 people, mostly women and children, following a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7 last year.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara