WAR ON IRAN
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Israel's Ben-Gvir says 'all of Lebanon must burn' after four soldiers killed
The US-Iran agreement has been viewed in Israel as harmful to its interests, underscoring Netanyahu’s limited success in influencing Trump’s approach.
Israel's Ben-Gvir says 'all of Lebanon must burn' after four soldiers killed
{FILE] "For every tear shed by an Israeli mother, a thousand Lebanese mothers must weep," he added. / Reuters

Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said on Friday that "all of Lebanon must burn" after Israel's military announced the deaths of four soldiers there.

The Israeli losses were the first to be announced since a US-Iran deal was signed to end the Middle East war.

The agreement was also supposed to halt the fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Washington has expressed frustration at Israel's continued military offensive there.

"With all due respect to the Americans, Israel must make it clear to the entire world that the blood of our sons and the security of our citizens are not up for bargaining. All of Lebanon must burn," Ben-Gvir said in a statement.

"For every tear shed by an Israeli mother, a thousand Lebanese mothers must weep," he added.

"In the Near East, you don't win with measured responses and restraint."

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Israel must "go wild. Eradicate. Defeat terrorism."

"We must let fire speak... and open the gates of hell," he added, without explicitly mentioning Lebanon.

Many casualties in Israeli military attack

The US-Iran agreement has been widely perceived in Israel as detrimental to its interests, signalling a failure by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to force US President Donald Trump to take account of Israeli security demands.

Netanyahu is under pressure ahead of elections due to be held by the end of October.

According to a poll published on Friday by the newspaper Maariv, 63 percent of Israelis are "worried" about the future of Israel following the deal.

Avigdor Lieberman, head of the nationalist Yisrael Beiteinu opposition party, called on Friday for a "heavy price" to be exacted in Lebanon "from which the other side will never recover".

If Beirut's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, "are still standing, this is a direct failure of the prime minister and the defence minister", he wrote on X.

Earlier on Friday, at least 24 people were killed and several others injured in a series of Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon, according to Lebanon's official news agency (NNA).

The agency said the attacks hit inhabited homes in Al-Sharqiyah, Harouf, and Kfar Sir in the Nabatieh district, also leaving several people unaccounted for.

According to the latest official figures, Israel's military offensive in Lebanon, which began on March 2, has killed 3,912 people, injured 11,873 others, and displaced more than one million residents.

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SOURCE:AFP