Israel's Netanyahu threatens to turn northern Lebanon into Gaza amid escalation with Hezbollah

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday warned Hezbollah against underestimating the Israeli army amid an exchange of cross-border fire with the Lebanese group.

"Hezbollah made a serious mistake about us in 2006 and is doing so again now. It thinks that we are weak as a spiderweb, and now sees what kind of spider we are," Netanyahu said as he met soldiers in Kiryat Shmona settlement in northern Israel.

The Israeli army will "do whatever is necessary to bring security back to the north, and I tell you that this is my policy,” Netanyahu said.

"We have given Hezbollah an example of what happened to its friends in the south," the Israeli premier said, in reference to Israel's devastating onslaught against the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7.

"That is what will happen here in the north. We will do anything to bring back security," he added.

Senior Hezbollah leader Wissam al-Hassan was killed early Monday in an Israeli airstrike in the town of Khirbet Selm in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging fire along the Lebanese-Israeli border since the Oct. 7 cross-border attack by Hamas, in the deadliest clashes since the two sides fought a full-scale war in 2006.

The killing of senior Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut has stoked fresh fears of escalation. Arouri was killed in an airstrike last week, but Israel has not confirmed if it was behind the attack.​​​​​​​