Trump prevented Hezbollah's imminent collapse, Defense Minister implies
Defense Minister Israel Katz implied that the actions of U.S. President Donald Trump prevented the collapse of Hezbollah, according to remarks from a closed briefing to military correspondents that was cited by Army Radio.
"When President Trump linked Iran and Lebanon, we stopped bringing down buildings in Beirut. Linking the two fronts was an American interest... If there had been no linkage between the Lebanese and Iranian fronts, Hezbollah would have collapsed," Army Radio quoted Katz as saying.
"We still have more tunnels to destroy—for example, at the Beaufort Ridge, where we will use 500 tons of explosives, just as we destroyed the tunnels in Majdal Zoun last night... The IDF captured the Ali al-Taher Ridge because of the tunnel threat, but there is no decision to capture Nabatiyeh... our objective is to demilitarize the entire Litani area of Hezbollah operatives and weapons," he said.
Katz also reportedly said he told U.S. CENTCOM chief Adm. Brad Cooper during last Friday's meeting that "the IDF will not withdraw from the three security zones—in Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza."
