‘We killed terrorists plotting a new October 7th’ – Herzog defends war on Hezbollah

Israel’s president defends strike on Hezbollah leaders and wave of pager bombings in Lebanon, telling UK media outlet Lebanon has been ‘hijacked’ by the pro-Iranian terror group.

By World Israel News Staff

Israeli President Isaac Herzog defended recent targeted Israeli attacks on members of the pro-Iranian Lebanon-based terrorist group Hezbollah in an appearance on the British media outlet Sky News on Sunday.

Four Israelis were injured in a massive wave of Hezbollah rocket and missile attacks on northern Israel Saturday night and Sunday morning.

On Friday, the Israeli Air Force eliminated 16 senior members of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force in an airstrike on a Hezbollah position in the Dahieh neighborhood of Beirut.

The airstrike came just days after a at least three waves of bombing attacks targeted pagers and hand-held radios issued by Hezbollah to its operatives across Lebanon and Syria, leaving dozens dead and thousands injured.

In his interview with Sky News‘ Trevor Phillips, President Herzog said that the sixteen Radwan Force members eliminated in Friday’s strike were plotting an invasion of northern Israel similar to the Hamas atrocities in southwestern Israel on October 7th.

“The simple message of Israel: we do not want war. We absolutely did not seek this war,” said Herzog.

“We do not want to get into a war with Lebanon, but Lebanon has been hijacked by a terror organization which is also a political party in Lebanon called Hezbollah.”

“It’s been armed to its teeth by the Iranian empire of evil, and all of these leaders who were eradicated on Friday by the Israeli attack, all of these leaders were meeting together in order to launch the same horrific, horrendous attack that we had on October 7th by Hamas, by burning Israelis, butchering them, raping their women, abducting and taking hostage old people and young, and little babies – so this is exactly the same plan that they’ve been planning for years under the empire of evil of Iran.”

Herzog emphasized that Israel has “restrained” itself in its response to Hezbollah attacks since last October, but added that the country must fulfill its “natural obligation” to protect its citizens in the north, noting that tens of thousands remain evacuated due to Hezbollah attacks.

“Hezbollah started this war. It started following the horrendous attack of Hamas on October 7, Hezbollah since then has been bombarding us endlessly. Almost 100,000 Israelis have been evacuated from their homes. The entire North has been shattered. We kept on being restrained and restrained and restrained, but something has to end. We have to bring our citizens back to their homes. That’s the most natural obligation of any nation to its citizens.”