Upon completing the visit, Minister Gallant referred to Hezbollah Leader Hassan Nasrallah’s recent speech in which he claims that, “Israel’s Minister of Defense is inflating the numbers.”
Minister Gallant presented a series of images of Hezbollah brigade commanders and emphasized that the IDF has eliminated over 300 terrorists and commanders in the terrorist organization.
He explained, "I have just completed a situation assessment and tour of the Northern Command – I was very impressed with the precise work conducted by our troops, by the way they defend the border and engage Hezbollah."
"Nasrallah is dragging Lebanon into a very, very difficult reality – one in which the people of Lebanon and Hezbollah forces will pay the price [suffer the consequences of Hezbollah’s actions]. This is the same Nasrallah who told you two weeks ago that there were no casualties among Hezbollah terrorists."
Pointing to the images, Gallant continued, "My question to him – aren’t they your people? The Brigade Commanders –Commander of the Bint Jbeil Brigade, and the senior officers – Abu Madi who has been dealing with missiles his whole life, Sid Mechi, one of the most senior Hezbollah operatives, Jawad Twil, Commander of the Radwan forces – aren’t they all Hezbollah members? This is a partial list – there are 320 terrorists killed, including senior operatives. If you will continue, we will accelerate."
