Minister of Defense Israel Katz participated in the annual Defense Exports Conference on Tuesday, attended by the Ministry of Defense management and the heads of the leading defense industries in Israel.
During his address, the Defense Minister provided a comprehensive and extraordinary strategic overview of what is happening on the northern front, and explained the decision to refrain from striking Beirut's Dahieh suburb per the American request.
"Following the request of the United States, the IDF refrained from powerful attacks on Beirut until yesterday, except for targeted eliminations, due to Washington's negotiations for a deal with Iran," Katz explained.
He added that on Monday, together with the Prime Minister, he advanced a coordinated plan with the IDF to create an equation of: "The Dahieh suburb's fate will be like that of the communities in northern Israel."
"We will not accept a situation where they will sleep softly in Beirut while Israeli communities are under rocket and drone attacks," the Minister emphasized. He noted that in parallel with determining the policy, the IDF Spokesperson published widespread evacuation notices for residents of the Hezbollah stronghold, and that of the 950,000 residents who usually reside in the Dahieh, by yesterday, approximately 600,000 had evacuated.
"If Israeli communities continue to be attacked, we will evacuate and attack the Shiite Dahieh suburb in Beirut, which is Hezbollah's stronghold."
The Defense Minister made clear that there is no ceasefire in Lebanon and that the fighting is continuing at full force. According to him, the short-term goal is the total demilitarization of the entire area between the area currently held by the IDF and the Litani River, while the long-term goal continues to be the total disarmament of Hezbollah.