Bennett Says Israel ‘Moving from Defense to Offense’

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett during a cabinet meeting (AP)
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett during a cabinet meeting (AP)
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Bennett Says Israel ‘Moving from Defense to Offense’

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett during a cabinet meeting (AP)
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett during a cabinet meeting (AP)

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett tried to justify the widespread escalation in the West Bank and the massive arrest campaigns among political activists saying Israel was moving from defense to offense.

Speaking at a weekly cabinet meeting, Bennett said, "We are moving from defense to offense, and attacking the sources of terrorism, anytime, anywhere, at night, during the day, in the morning, in the evening, and wherever they are."

During the session, Bennett, the Defense Minister Benny Gantz, Public Security Minister Omer Barlev, and all security leaders left the meeting to conduct "security deliberations" about the army and intelligence activities in the West Bank, Jenin, and Nablus.

"As I said, there will be no restrictions on the security forces, on the IDF, the Shin Bet, and the Israel Police. We will continue to pursue the terrorists everywhere," he said.

Gantz revealed that he delivered a "strong message to the Palestinian Authority" to take action to protect Joseph's Tomb in Nablus and punish the violators.

He said that Israel will work quickly to "ensure that the site is refurbished and quickly returned to its original condition."

Israeli forces continued their escalation for the third day in a row on Monday in the northern areas of the West Bank, injuring dozens and arresting 25 people suspected of assisting the perpetrators of the armed operations.

Clashes erupted between the Palestinians and Israeli forces.

"Dear citizens, we are in a difficult and challenging period. It could be that it will be prolonged. The second intifada took several years, but in the end, we won. The wave of lone-wolf terrorism in 2015-2016 continued for almost a year and cost us 50 victims, but in the end, we won. This time too, we will win,." said Bennett addressing Israelis.

The PM stated that lone attacks without organizational infrastructure are a significant challenge for the security establishment, but it will meet them.

"Our enemies will seek out every crack and exploit every opportunity to attack us."

Political sources revealed that the Israeli government approved a proposal submitted by Bennett, Lapid, and Minister of Welfare and Social Affairs Meir Cohen to establish a team to formulate a policy on revoking the eligibility for "state pensions, support payments, and the other benefits from state bodies of the families of terrorists who are residents and citizens of Israel and who carried out security offenses and acts of terrorism."

The team will formulate recommendations and present them to the cabinet on the relevant issues, including advice regarding necessary legislative changes.

Bennett said: "We will settle accounts with terrorists and with the circles that surround them."

Meanwhile, the Israeli army issued Sunday a demolition order for the home of a Palestinian Diaa Hamarsheh, who carried out the Bnei Brak operation about two weeks ago.

Hamrasha is from Yabad village in the northern West Bank. The occupation army handed the family a demolition notice and a deadline to appeal the order.



Lebanon Security Source Says Hezbollah Official Targeted in Beirut Strike

Civil defense members work as Lebanese army soldiers stand guard at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's Basta neighbourhood, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, Lebanon November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
Civil defense members work as Lebanese army soldiers stand guard at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's Basta neighbourhood, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, Lebanon November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
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Lebanon Security Source Says Hezbollah Official Targeted in Beirut Strike

Civil defense members work as Lebanese army soldiers stand guard at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's Basta neighbourhood, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, Lebanon November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
Civil defense members work as Lebanese army soldiers stand guard at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's Basta neighbourhood, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, Lebanon November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

A Lebanese security source said the target of a deadly Israeli airstrike on central Beirut early Saturday was a senior Hezbollah official, adding it was unclear whether he was killed.

"The Israeli strike on Basta targeted a leading Hezbollah figure," the security official told AFP without naming the figure, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

The early morning airstrike has killed at least 15 people and injured 63, according to authorities, and had brought down an eight-storey building nearby, in the second such attack on the working-class neighbourhood of Basta in as many months.

"The strike was so strong it felt like the building was about to fall on our heads," said Samir, 60, who lives with his family in a building facing the one that was hit.

"It felt like they had targeted my house," he said, asking to be identified by only his first name because of security concerns.

There had been no evacuation warning issued by the Israeli military for the Basta area.

After the strike, Samir fled his home in the middle of the night with his wife and two children, aged 14 and just three.

On Saturday morning, dumbstruck residents watched as an excavator cleared the wreckage of the razed building and rescue efforts continued, with nearby buildings also damaged in the attack, AFP journalists reported.

The densely packed district has welcomed people displaced from traditional Hezbollah bastions in Lebanon's east, south and southern Beirut, after Israel intensified its air campaign on September 23, later sending in ground troops.

"We saw two dead people on the ground... The children started crying and their mother cried even more," Samir told AFP, reporting minor damage to his home.

Since last Sunday, four deadly Israeli strikes have hit central Beirut, including one that killed Hezbollah spokesman Mohammed Afif.

Residents across the city and its outskirts awoke at 0400 (0200 GMT) on Saturday to loud explosions and the smell of gunpowder in the air.

"It was the first time I've woken up screaming in terror," said Salah, a 35-year-old father of two who lives in the same street as the building that was targeted.

"Words can't express the fear that gripped me," he said.

Saturday's strikes were the second time the Basta district had been targeted since war broke out, after deadly twin strikes early in October hit the area and the Nweiri neighbourhood.

Last month's attacks killed 22 people and had targeted Hezbollah security chief Wafiq Safa, who made it out alive, a source close to the group told AFP.

Salah said his wife and children had been in the northern city of Tripoli, about 70 kilometres away (45 miles), but that he had to stay in the capital because of work.

His family had been due to return this weekend because their school reopens on Monday, but now he has decided against it following the attack.

"I miss them. Every day they ask me: 'Dad, when are we coming home?'" he said.

Lebanon's health ministry says that more than 3,650 people have been killed since October 2023, after Hezbollah initiated exchanges of fire with Israel in solidarity with its Iran-backed ally Hamas over the Gaza war.

However, most of the deaths in Lebanon have been since September this year.

Despite the trauma caused by Saturday's strike, Samir said he and his family had no choice but to return home.

"Where else would I go?" he asked.

"All my relatives and siblings have been displaced from Beirut's southern suburbs and from the south."