New York: In his maiden speech at the United Nations since the Gaza war, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated that Iran was the main source of conflict in the Middle East. He displayed two maps at the UN. The maps showed a group of countries as ‘The Curse’ and labelled another group as ‘The Blessing.’
Netanyahu shows ‘maps of blessing and curse’ pic.twitter.com/I6kFso8gyo
— RT (@RT_com) September 27, 2024
The map on Netanyahu’s right hand featured Iran, Iraq, Syria and Yemen, painted in black, and named as ‘The Curse.’ In his left hand, the map showed Egypt, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, and India, all in green, and referred to as ‘The Blessing.’ Both maps interestingly showed Palestinian territories – the West Bank and Gaza—as part of Israel. It also showed the Golan Heights region in Syria as part of Israel.
The full speech by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the United Nations.
Pray for Israel's leaders. pic.twitter.com/EboWSPY88K
— Hananya Naftali (@HananyaNaftali) September 27, 2024
The move by Netanyahu is being seen as Israel’s attempt to emphasise its growing relations with neighbouring Arab countries and India.
If you strike us, we will strike you: Netanyahu warns
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday made strong statements against Hezbollah, which Israel claims to be an Iran-backed militant group, at the United Nations.
“As long as Hezbollah chooses the path of war, Israel has no choice, and Israel has every right to remove this threat and return our citizens to their homes safe,” Netanyahu said.
While some delegates walked out as he spoke, cheers and applause came from his backers. “We will continue degrading Hezbollah until all our objectives are met,” he added.
This comes at a time when the White House had said that the call for a ceasefire had been ‘coordinated’ with Israel. But Netanyahu’s office on Thursday claimed that the Prime Minister had not responded to the proposal.
Netanyahu also threatened Iran at the UN. “I have a message for the tyrants of Tehran. If you strike us, we will strike you,” he said, adding that there was no place in Iran that the long arm of Israel couldn’t reach, and that was in fact true for the entire Middle East.
‘Deadliest period in Lebanon’
Hezbollah and Israel had been locked in a deadly exchange of fire since the Iran-backed group’s Palestinian ally, Hamas, attacked Israel on October 7.
Since Monday, Israel had turned its focus from Gaza to its northern front with Lebanon. Heavy bombing by Israeli forces had allegedly killed 700 people and sparked an exodus of around 118,000 people from the region.
The UN dubbed this as a ‘catastrophic’ intensification of Israeli attacks targeting Hezbollah militants. It stated that Lebanon was facing its ‘deadliest period… in a generation.’
‘Israel hoping to avoid a ground invasion in Lebanon’
Speaking on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, an Israeli official reportedly stated that by targeting Hezbollah’s leadership in a major Beirut airstrike on Friday, the country was hoping to avoid launching a ground invasion in Lebanon.
The strike targeting Secretary General of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, and other top officials in Beirut’s Dahiyeh suburb was aimed at breaking Hezbollah, the senior official explained.
The official, as reported by the Times of Israel, claimed that the Israeli intelligence had uncovered an Iranian plan to encircle Israel and eliminate the Jewish state by 2040.
