Israeli officials have repeatedly threatened to destroy all of Lebanon since October.
Here are just a few examples:
“There is no difference between Hezbollah and Lebanon. Lebanon will be annihilated. It will cease to exist.”
— Yoav Kisch, Israel’s Minister of Education
“Beirut must burn. I’m not saying this because I am a war monger”
— Yoaz Hendel, Former minister, media person, Lt. Col. (Res.)
“For the deaths of little children, [Hezbollah chief Hassan] Nasrallah should pay with his head,” Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich tweeted,” asserting that it was “time for action” and that “Lebanon as a whole has to pay the price.”
"Every person in Lebanon can take the map, the aerial photograph of Gaza, place it on an aerial photograph of Beirut, and ask themselves if this is what they want to happen there.”
— Yoav Gallant, Israeli Defense Minister
“The time has come for the price to be paid in military targets and Lebanese infrastructure, of which Hezbollah is a part.”
— Benny Gantz, Retired MK Lt. General & Minister without portfolio
“Lebanon is a dysfunctional state incapable of enforcing UN resolution 1701 which forbids presence of Hezbollah in South Lebanon… So Israel has no option but to evacuate villages in South Lebanon and establish a buffer zone there.”
Meanwhile how israel actually feels about Lebanon: https://x.com/BTnewsroom/status/1839771677519163565 (tweets by BreakThrough News, using quotes from top israel figures)