Defense Minister Israel Katz on Monday morning declared that Shiite forces will not return to their homes south of the Litani River, warning Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem that he will soon meet Hezbollah's eliminated leader and Iran's eliminated Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei "in the depths of hell."
The situational assessment was held at the Kirya and attended by senior IDF officials, including Deputy Chief of Staff Tamir Yadai and Military Intelligence chief Shlomi Binder. During the discussion, Katz presented a strong and and uncompromising position regarding the continued fighting in northern Israel and the goals of the ground operation which the IDF recently began in Lebanon.
"The IDF has begun a ground maneuver in order to remove threats and protect the residents of the Galilee and the north," Katz declared.
Placing responsibility for the situation directly on the shoulders of Hezbollah's leadership, he added: "Naim Qassem, who boasts from underground, is turning more than a million Shiites of his own community into refugees in their own country. He is a worthy successor to his predecessor."
"Hezbollah will pay a heavy price for its aggression and activities as part of the Iranian axis to destroy Israel. Those who wish to destroy were destroyed and will be destroyed. If Naim Qassem misses [former Hezbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah and [former Iranian Supreme Leader Ali] Khamenei so much - he will soon be able to meet him in the depths of hell, together with all the eliminated of the axis of evil."
Katz also revealed that he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had instructed the IDF to apply to the villages of southern Lebanon the operational model that was implemented in the Gaza Strip.
'We instructed the IDF to destroy the terror infrastructure in the contact villages near the border - exactly as was done against Hamas in Rafah and Beit Hanoun," he said. The goal is to physically prevent Hezbollah’s ability to return to the contact line and threaten the northern communities.
In a significant step, Katz clarified that Israel will not allow the Shiite population to return to areas south of the Litani River as long as complete security for Israel’s residents has not been achieved.
"Hundreds of thousands of residents of southern Lebanon who evacuated will not return to their homes until the safety of the residents of the north is guaranteed," he emphasized. "We promised security - and that is exactly what will be done."