Tel Aviv: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel is striking Hezbollah with full force and will not stop until its goals are achieved. Netanyahu spoke as he landed in New York to attend the annual U.N. General Assembly meeting and as U.S. and European officials were pressing for a 21-day halt in fighting between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah to give time for negotiations.
Netanyahu said Israel's policy is clear. We are continuing to strike Hezbollah with full force. And we will not stop until we reach all our goals, chief among them the return of the residents of the north securely to their homes.
On the same day, the Israeli military said it killed a Hezbollah drone commander in an airstrike on an apartment building in the Beirut suburbs. Hezbollah did not immediately comment on Israel's claim that Mohammed Hussein Surour was dead.
Israel has dramatically escalated strikes in Lebanon this week, saying it is targeting Hezbollah. Israeli leaders have said they are determined to stop more than 11 months of cross-border fire by the militant group into Israel, which has forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of Israelis from communities in the north.
