Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu signaled to the world from the United Nations on Friday that the Middle East’s multiple conflicts are far from resolved, vowing to continue fighting Lebanon’s Hezbollah and defeat Hamas in the Gaza Strip until “total victory” is achieved.

Shortly after the prime minister spoke, explosions rocked the Lebanese capital, Beirut, and the Israeli army said it struck Hezbollah headquarters. The attack appeared to target the Hezbollah leader and prompted Netanyahu to cut short his trip to New York for a day and make an unusual trip on the Jewish Sabbath to return home.

“Israel has every right to remove this threat and return our citizens to their homes safely. And that is exactly what we are doing,” Netanyahu said to applause from his supporters in the General Assembly Hall. “We will continue to weaken Hezbollah until we achieve all our goals.”

When Netanyahu entered the hall and was introduced, boos and loud voices echoed, and many delegates exited through various exits.

Netanyahu spoke as international mediation efforts were underway to try to rein in the escalating conflict in Lebanon, where Israel has intensively struck Hezbollah targets over the past week, pushing the death toll in Lebanon into the hundreds and raising fears of an escalation of the conflict. To all-out war.

Late Wednesday, the United States, France and other allies jointly called for an “immediate” 21-day ceasefire to allow negotiations to take place. Israel said on Thursday that discussions were continuing and that Hezbollah had not formally responded to the ceasefire proposal, but said it would not stop firing until the war in Gaza ended.

Hezbollah began striking Israel the day after the Hamas attack on October 7, as an act of solidarity with the Palestinians. The two sides have exchanged relatively low-level fire on an almost daily basis since then, and the attacks intensified sharply after a wave of communications equipment explosions targeting Hezbollah operatives – an attack that was widely blamed on Israel. The fighting led to the displacement of tens of thousands on both sides of the border.

Netanyahu defends Israel’s responses

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Netanyahu is facing increasing pressure from within his government and from Israelis displaced by the fighting to deal a strong blow to Hezbollah. The latest strikes targeted the group’s senior leadership.

“Just imagine if terrorists turned El Paso and San Diego into ghost towns… How long would the US government tolerate that?” He said, shaking his fist in concentration. However, Israel has been tolerating this intolerable situation for nearly a year. Well, I came here today to say: enough is enough.’

Netanyahu pointed the finger at Iran as a destabilizing force in the region, noting its support for both Hamas and Hezbollah. He warned Tehran that “if you hit us, we will hit you.” As he spoke, the Iranian delegation’s seats were empty. Outside, demonstrators demonstrated against Netanyahu and Israeli policies behind police barricades.

Armed with visual aids as in the past, the Prime Minister defended his country’s response to the Hamas attack on Israel that led to the war that devastated the Gaza Strip. He said that Israel destroyed much of Hamas’s missile arsenal, killed or captured half of its fighting force, and dismantled many of its underground tunnels. He said that Israel is “focusing on purifying Hamas’ remaining combat capabilities.”

But the war in Gaza will soon extend into its second year, with no end in sight. Multiple attempts to reach a ceasefire have faltered due to Hamas’s demand that Israel withdraw all its forces and end the war, and due to Israel’s insistence on maintaining its presence in some areas. All the while, civilians suffered heavy losses in the ongoing violence; About 100 hostages are still being held in Gaza.

The Israeli campaign on Gaza led to the killing of more than 41,500 Palestinians and the injury of more than 96,000 others, according to the latest figures issued Thursday by the Ministry of Health. The ministry, part of the Hamas government in Gaza, does not differentiate between civilians and combatants, but more than half of those killed were women and children, including about 1,300 children under the age of two.

Israel insists that its military operations are justified and necessary to defend itself.

“This war can end now. All that has to happen is for Hamas to surrender, lay down its weapons and release all the hostages.” “But if they don’t – if they don’t – we will fight until we achieve complete victory. Complete victory. There is no alternative to it.”

His speech influenced the rest of the General Assembly

In a speech steeped in talk of the conflict, Netanyahu also made a lengthy appeal to establish Israeli relations with Saudi Arabia, repeating the content of his speech last year, when efforts to achieve that goal were underway. But US-backed normalization talks were derailed by Hamas attacks, which refocused the spotlight on Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians, casting doubt on Netanyahu’s argument that relations with Saudi Arabia are not conditional on the establishment of a Palestinian state.

When Netanyahu took the stage on Friday morning, there was enough commotion in the audience that the diplomat presiding over the session had to shout, “Order order, please.”

The two speakers who preceded Netanyahu on Friday were keen to criticize Israel for its actions.

“Netanyahu, stop this war now,” Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Gollub said, concluding his speech, hitting the podium. Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, speaking directly to the Israeli leader, declared about Gaza: “This is not just a conflict.” . “This is a systematic slaughter of innocent people in Palestine.” He hit the podium amid audible applause.

And it wasn’t just Friday either. On Thursday, both the Palestinian Authority leader and a senior Lebanese official made their cases to their fellow leaders — cases that included harsh words for Israel as well. Mahmoud Abbas’s first words before the General Assembly were a phrase repeated three times in reference to Gaza: “We will not leave. We will not leave.” We won’t leave. We will not leave.” He accused Israel of destroying Gaza and making it unlivable. Abdullah Bouhabib, the Lebanese Foreign Minister, denounced “Israel’s systematic destruction of Lebanese border villages.”

Bouhabib said: “The crisis in Lebanon threatens the entire Middle East.” Today, we would like to reiterate our call for a ceasefire on all fronts.”

At the General Assembly late on Friday evening, Iran exercised its “right of reply” at the end of its regular speeches and denounced Israel as “the exclusive source of insecurity and instability in the region and beyond.”

An Iranian diplomat, who was not immediately named, said: “What you heard here today from the notorious Israeli prime minister was nothing but a failed attempt to divert attention from the genocide and brutal war crimes he committed.” He addressed the General Assembly in English.