Israel warns can send Lebanon ‘back to Stone Age’ as UN seeks de-escalation
Al Jazeera
Gallant says Israel can inflict ‘massive damage’ as UN humanitarian chief says war would be ‘potentially apocalyptic’.
Israel has said it does not want war in Lebanon but could send its neighbour “back to the Stone Age”, as the United Nations humanitarian affairs chief warned such a conflict would be “potentially apocalyptic”.
“We do not want war, but we are preparing for every scenario,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told reporters on Wednesday in Washington, DC. “Hezbollah understands very well that we can inflict massive damage in Lebanon if a war is launched.”
Israel was capable of taking “Lebanon back to the Stone Age, but we don’t want to do it”, he said.
The border between the two countries has seen daily exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and the Iran-aligned Lebanese group Hezbollah since the current conflict in Gaza broke out on October 7. Fears of a full-blown war grew this month after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was preparing for “a very tense operation” on the border with Lebanon.
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has also threatened a war with “no restraint and no rules and no ceilings” in case of a major Israeli offensive against Lebanon.
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