Israeli Message to Hezbollah: Targeting Civilians Means War

According to Israeli newspaper “Yedioth Ahronoth” on Thursday, Tel Aviv has conveyed a message to Lebanese Hezbollah through Western and regional officials, urging them not to target civilians and warning of the outbreak of war if this occurs.

The newspaper reports that Israel’s message to Hezbollah emphasized that combat should be “between two armies” and that widespread targeting of civilians would signify the onset of war.

The Israeli military claimed that it is not targeting infrastructure supporting Hezbollah fighters but rather the fighters themselves, asserting that Hezbollah should respond in kind.

This message follows Tel Aviv’s announcement of the assassination of Hezbollah’s prominent military leader Fouad Shukr in an airstrike on southern Beirut’s suburbs last Tuesday, amid anticipation of a response from the group and concerns about the outbreak of a regional war.

In addition to the assassination of the Hezbollah leader, the Israeli attack also resulted in the deaths of two children and two women, as well as injuries to more than 80 people, according to the Lebanese Red Cross.

Meanwhile, Iranian media reported on Wednesday evening that an Iranian military advisor was killed in the Israeli raid on southern Beirut’s suburbs.

Following the assassination, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Tel Aviv is prepared for any scenario, emphasizing that he will not halt the war on the Gaza Strip.

Netanyahu added, “I have made it clear from the beginning of the war (on Gaza) that we are at war against the Iranian axis of evil,” claiming that Shukr was responsible for a missile attack on the town of Majdal Shams in the occupied Golan Heights last Saturday, which resulted in 12 deaths.

In response, Israeli Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi threatened to invade Lebanon, hinting at the possibility of further assassinations in the capital, Beirut.

This Israeli airstrike marks the second attack on the southern suburbs, following the assassination of Hamas’s deputy political bureau chief Sheikh Saleh al-Arouri on January 2, 2024, which was seen as a breach of established rules of engagement.

Since October 8, 2023, Hezbollah and Lebanese and Palestinian factions have been engaged in daily shelling exchanges with Israeli forces.

Since the start of the confrontations, Israel has killed approximately 388 Hezbollah members, in addition to dozens of civilians.

These factions condition the cessation of shelling on ending the Israeli military’s war, supported by the U.S., on the Gaza Strip, which began on October 7, 2023, resulting in over 130,000 Palestinian casualties—mostly women and children—and more than 10,000 missing persons, amid massive destruction and famine that has claimed the lives of dozens of children.