Israel will strike Hezbollah unless Lebanon intervenes, Netanyahu warns Pompeo in Brussels

Netanyahu met Pompeo in Brussels where he reportedly delivered a stern warning via the US secretary of state intended to put Hezbollah on notice.

By Associated Press and World Israel News Staff

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu left for Brussels on Monday to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Netanyahu’s office said the meeting with Pompeo would address “regional developments.”

While the prime minister’s office did not provide specifics, Netanyahu is believed to have communicated a warning to Pompeo that the Israeli premier intends to be heard by Lebanon and Hezbollah, reported the Jerusalem Post.

The essence of that warning is that if Lebanon does not rein in the Hezbollah terror group, and control its designs on precision-guided missiles, Israel will take matters into its own hands.

Netanyahu was accompanied to Brussels by top Israeli intelligence and military officials.

The meeting comes as the U.S. administration gears up to release its much-anticipated Middle East peace plan, as well as in the wake of the U.S. restoring sanctions on Iran that had been lifted under the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and other world powers.

Israel, which faces a continual existential threat from Iran, opposed the nuclear deal from the start and applauded the renewed U.S. sanctions.