Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday ordered the country’s armed forces to completely destroy what he described as Hezbollah’s “infrastructure” in southern Lebanon, according to a statement from his office.
During a visit to troops deployed in southern Lebanon, Netanyahu referred to all infrastructure used by the Iran-backed Shiite movement’s military wing to launch attacks against northern Israel, both above and below ground, particularly its network of tunnels.
“This is the order: leave nothing standing, and carry it out,” Netanyahu said, according to a statement released by his office on X.
היום בדרום לבנון עם הלוחמים שלנו >> pic.twitter.com/r7WvnTtjdL
— Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) June 30, 2026
He also told soldiers that they must act immediately when they identify a threat and should not wait before taking action.
Netanyahu further ruled out withdrawing Israeli forces from areas they currently occupy until Hezbollah is “fully” disarmed and “the threat is eliminated.”
The Israeli prime minister has long described Hezbollah as the most important component of what he calls the Iran-backed “axis of resistance.”
He claimed that only “8%” of the 150,000 rockets he says Hezbollah possessed remain and asserted that “9,000 terrorists” have been killed in Lebanon.
Both Hezbollah and the Lebanese government consider the “security zone” that Israel has unilaterally established in southern Lebanon to be an occupation imposed in violation of international law.
According to estimates by Lebanese media, the territory currently under Israeli control covers approximately 620 square kilometres, equivalent to about 6% of Lebanon’s territory.
