Netanyahu threatens Hezbollah as concern of Israel opening second front in war heightens

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a stark warning to Lebanon, suggesting “Beirut and southern Lebanon” will turn into war-torn “Gaza and Khan Yunis” if Hezbollah escalates the conflict.

Concern that Israel may open a second front into Lebanon has reached a new level following Netanyahu’s Thursday meeting with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant addressing Israeli soldiers.

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“If Hezbollah decides to open an all-out war, then with its own hands it will turn Beirut and southern Lebanon, which are not far from here, into Gaza and Khan Yunis,” Netanyahu said.

The pair’s meeting comes after a 60-year-old Israeli civilian was killed on Thursday in an attack by Hezbollah coming from its southern border, as several projectiles were launched into northern Israel by the Lebanese terrorists.

Gallant hinted in a Wednesday meeting with community leaders near the Lebanon border that Israel might expand the conflict northward, threatening to push Hezbollah beyond the Litani River in southern Lebanon if the terrorist group does not leave the area.

He said Israel will “act with all the means at its disposal” if Hezbollah doesn’t leave, warning the 80,000 residents of those border communities who evacuated due to the war not to return home before Hezbollah is driven back beyond the Litani River.

Hezbollah is legally barred from maintaining a military presence south of the river, located approximately 18 miles north of Lebanon’s border with Israel, according to U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701.

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The terrorist group has repeatedly violated this resolution and often uses this area to launch attacks against Israel. Gallant expressed his hope that a diplomatic solution will be reached to enforce this agreement despite his warning.

The Washington Examiner reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for comment.