Netanyahu says that Hezbollah received unexpected blows, and Israel’s Defense Minister promises to “continue to work until the residents of the north return to their homes.” “

Galant pointed out during a tour of the control and attack headquarters of the Air Force in the northern region that “Israel continues its work until the residents can return to their homes safely in the north of the country. “

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said: “Hezbollah must withdraw beyond the Litani according to Resolution No. 1701 from the UN Security Council,” explaining that Israel will work to achieve this if the international community does not implement the resolution.

In a letter he sent to his contemporaries, Katz said “Israel will not rest until the people, numbering seventy thousand, go back safely to the north.”

The statements came after clashes escalated over the past week, with Israel targeting a meeting of leaders in Hezbollah’s Radwan unit in the southern suburbs of Beirut, which led to the killing of prominent officials in the unit.

This operation followed the explosion of wireless communication devices used by Hezbollah members, which led to dozens of deaths and thousands of injuries, amid accusations from the party that Israel was responsible for the attack.

On Sunday, Israeli President Isaac Herzog denied that Israel was involved in the pager attacks that took place in Lebanon, saying, “We absolutely deny any connection to the operation this. “

He said: “Hezbollah has many enemies there, and Hezbollah is suffocating Lebanon, destroying it, and causing chaos there again and again, and we are just here to defend ourselves, and that’s what we do. “

Herzog also described the process of targeting Hezbollah leaders, saying: “The meeting was dedicated to planning an attack on Israel.

In an interview with Sky News, Herzog said: “These leaders met to carry out a covert attack similar to what Hamas did on October 7, by shooting, killing, stealing and holding women and children, ” and added: “These plans are coming in. Iran’s imperial project.” “The villain.”

These statements are consistent with what Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said after the attack, when he explained that “the targeted leaders intended to cross the Galilee, similar to what Hamas did there the October 7 attack. “

He said, “These leaders were responsible for attacks against Israel since October 8, and they planned to do more.”

The head of Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hassan Nasrallah, announced in a televised address, Thursday, his challenge to Israel to achieve its goal of returning the residents of the north to their homes, affirming that Israel’s leaders will not be able to “achieve”. this.

He reiterated that the only way to stop the “attack and war against the people of Gaza,” and that an escalation of arms, massacres, or even an all-out war would “increase the movement of the population and force leave the opportunity to return. “

He pointed out that what is being built in Israel regarding the establishment of a security zone within the territory of ​​Lebanon, which will allow the population to return to the north, “will turn into mud, a trap, and an ambush . “

Nasrallah declared that this “historic opportunity” would happen. Because, according to him, this provides an information effort for Hezbollah fighters where the Israelis were appearing.

He said in his speech that Hezbollah would respond to the bombings on Tuesday and Wednesday, “with a difficult reckoning and a fair retribution from where they expect and from where they do not expect it,” without specifying a time, place or form for that answer.