Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has triggered international outrage after declaring that “all of Lebanon must burn”, urging Israel to abandon restraint in its fight against Hezbollah.
In a post on X, translated from Hebrew, the far-right minister wrote: “For every tear of an Israeli mother, a thousand Lebanese mothers must weep. All of Lebanon must burn.”
Ben Gvir rejected calls for a measured response, arguing that Israel should dramatically escalate its military campaign.
“Enough with the ping-pong. In the Middle East, you don’t win with measured responses and restraint. You need to go berserk. To obliterate” he wrote.
The minister also claimed he had delivered the same message directly to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during private meetings.
“I told the Prime Minister, even in our private meetings: For every tear of an Israeli mother, a thousand Lebanese mothers must weep,” Ben Gvir said.
X flagged the post for violating its rules but allowed it to remain online, saying it may be in the public interest.
The comments come amid mounting fears that hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah could spiral into a wider regional conflict.
Ben Gvir, one of the most hardline figures in Netanyahu’s coalition government, has repeatedly pushed for a more aggressive military response against Israel’s adversaries.
Ben Gvir’s remarks come as tensions between Washington and Israel intensify, with President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance recently warning Israeli officials against attacking the United States. The unusually blunt exchanges have exposed one of the deepest strains in the US-Israel alliance in years, as the Trump administration pushes for greater restraint while hardline members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government call for a more aggressive military response.
