(
Apr. 15, 2026
/ JNS
)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that the Jewish state is negotiating with Lebanon, something it hasn’t done for more than 40 years, “because we are very strong, and nations are coming to us, not just Lebanon.”
There are two Israeli objectives—disarming Hezbollah and achieving sustainable peace through strength, Netanyahu said.
Israel is about to eliminate the Bint Jbeil, “the place where Hassan Nasrallah said 26 years ago, ‘The Israelis are cobwebs,’” the prime minister said. “We are, in effect, about to eliminate this great stronghold of Hezbollah.”
The Israeli premier said that he directed the military to widen the security zone and “spread it eastward toward the slopes of Mount Hermon, so that we can better assist our Druze brothers in their time of distress.” He added that the United States has been updating Israel on its communications with Iran.
“Our goals and those of the United States are identical,” he said. “We want to see the enriched material removed from Iran. We want to see the cancellation of enrichment capabilities within Iran and of course, we want to see the opening of the straits.”