Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned Iran that “there is no place the Middle East that the long arm of Israel cannot reach” against its attempts to attack his country over the targeted killing of Hezbollah chief Hasan Nasrallah in an airstrike by Israeli armed forces.
“All those who oppose the axis of evil, all those who are fighting under the violent dictatorship of Iran and its proxies in Lebanon, Syria, Iran itself and other places, they are all filled with hope today. I say to the citizens of those countries: Israel stands with you. And to the ayatollahs' regime I say: Those who strike us, we strike them. There is no place in Iran or the Middle East that the long arm of Israel cannot reach. Today, you already know that this is correct,” Netanyahu said.
The Israel PM added that Israel has “settled accounts” with Hezbollah chief for his alleged role in killing “countless” Israelis and citizens of other countries, including the US and France. “If someone rises up to kill you, kill him first. Yesterday, the State of Israel eliminated the arch-murderer Hassan Nasrallah,” he said.
Netanyahu also called Nasrallah as “the terrorist” and also the “main engine of Iran’s axis of evil” in West Asia. Netanyahu also alleged that Nasrallah was one of the chief architects of the Iran’s Ayatollah regime’s plan to “destroy” Israel.
Israeli PM also emphasised his country's commitment to “defend” its citizens and secure the release of all hostages. Netanyahu termed Nasrallah’s death as a critical achievement in Israel's military strategy and as a step toward restoring security along Israel’s northern borders.
Addressing his country following Nasrallah’s killing, Netanyahu said that Nasrallah had been responsible for orchestrating numerous attacks on Israelis and foreign nationals, including high-profile bombings in the 1980s.
The Israeli PM’s warning came as Iran vowed to avenge Hezbollah chief's death and called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.
In a letter sent to the Council, Iran’s UN envoy Amir Saeid Iravani called on the Council to “take immediate and decisive action to stop Israel’s ongoing aggression and prevent from dragging the region into full-scale war.”
United Nations Chief Antonio Guterres expressed grave concern over the latest escalation in the conflict, and urged all sides to stop the “cycle of violence.”
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on September 28 said ‘Zionist criminals are far too weak to cause damage’ after Israel claimed that it killed Hezbollah’s longtime leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in an airstrike in Beirut.
“All the resistance forces in the region are standing by Hezbollah and support it,” Khamenei wrote as part of a series of posts on X (formally twitter) following the latest development.