Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told world leaders on Sept. 27 that Israel will “continue degrading Hezbollah” until it pacifies the border region with Lebanon.
Netanyahu’s comments are likely to dampen international efforts to push Israel into a wider cease-fire deal and to prevent its confrontations with Hezbollah, Hamas, and Iran from spiraling into a larger, regional conflict.
Earlier in the week, the United States, France, and other allies called on Israel to pursue an immediate three-week cease-fire to allow for negotiations with Hezbollah and prevent all-out war.
The embattled Israeli leader told the U.N. General Assembly in New York City, however, that his government would no longer tolerate the daily rocket attacks from Hezbollah forces along the northern border—attacks Israel has moved to suppress in the last week with heavy missile fires of its own….