Itamar Ben Gvir has urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to expand military operations against Lebanon and Gaza, calling for strikes on the capital and a fiercer confrontation with Hezbollah.
Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir escalated rhetoric toward Lebanon and Gaza on Sunday, pressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to broaden military operations on both fronts. Ben Gvir called for bombing Beirut and crushing Hezbollah, while demanding the complete occupation of Gaza and encouraged Palestinian emigration from the territory.
In his Sunday statement, Ben Gvir expressed hope that Israel was heading toward escalation with Lebanon, arguing that merely defeating threats was insufficient. He called for an end to what he termed the cat-and-mouse game and demanded operations that would, in his words, crush Hezbollah in Beirut as well.
The timing of Ben Gvir's statements coincides with heightened tension on the Lebanese front. On August 15, Israeli strikes killed 11 people, including children, in Ansar, Deir al-Zahra, and surrounding areas. Israel said the strikes were a response to a Hezbollah-attributed attack that wounded Israeli soldiers.
Underlying the escalation is a continuing dispute over the future of Israeli military presence in southern Lebanon. Israeli Defence Minister Yisrael Katz declared that the Israeli army would not withdraw until Hezbollah is disarmed. The United States maintains that Israeli withdrawal should be linked to Lebanese army deployment and verification of Hezbollah disarmament in agreed areas.
Ben Gvir's current statements are not his first on this subject. On May 25, he called on Netanyahu to tell US President Donald Trump that Israel would return to war in Lebanon, arguing that drone attacks from Lebanese territory cannot be tolerated. In June, he opposed the ceasefire with Lebanon, describing it as a grave mistake.
He has consistently accused the Lebanese state of failing to remove Hezbollah from south of the Litani River, maintaining a position that pushes toward a harder military approach to Lebanon. On Gaza, his position aligns with his repeated calls for full occupation of the territory and encouraging Palestinian emigration, demands he has made publicly on multiple occasions.
Ben Gvir has also rejected any arrangement allowing Hamas to survive or military operations to halt before the group's capabilities are destroyed. His call to bomb Beirut carries added significance given recent escalation in Lebanon, particularly as right-wing Israeli ministers have pressured for stronger responses to Hezbollah operations in recent months.
These calls have included demands for expanded strikes on the Lebanese capital and reopening of a broad military confrontation. Ben Gvir's statements thus reflect pressure from the harder line within Israel's government for Netanyahu to move from limited strikes and responses toward wider operations in Lebanon and Gaza.
This push comes at a delicate moment where military pressures intersect with American efforts to prevent the collapse of existing understandings and the outbreak of a new war. The outcome will depend on how Netanyahu weighs the demands of his right-wing coalition members against the costs of a wider conflict and international pressure for restraint.
Ben Gvir's role as a coalition member gives his statements particular weight in Israeli politics. His repeated calls for escalation signal the internal debate within Israel's government over strategy, even as both Israeli and Lebanese officials navigate the fragile ceasefire terms.
The statements underscore the fragility of current arrangements and the forces within Israeli politics that oppose the limited-strike approach currently in place. As tensions remain high on the border, the direction Netanyahu takes will shape whether current understandings hold or break down into wider conflict.
