Gantz issues thinly-veiled threat to take Lebanon ‘completely into the dark’

Israeli opposition leader and ex-minister in the now defunct War Cabinet”, Benny Gantz, claimed on Tuesday that the occupation state is capable of plunging Lebanon into darkness and weakening a large part of Hezbollah’s military capabilities within days, but that the price for Israel will be “heavy”. Gantz made his comment as fears continue within Israel about the repercussions of a possible power outage in the country if the daily confrontations between Tel Aviv and Hezbollah turn into an all-out war.

Shaul Goldstein, the CEO of Israel’s state-owned electricity company Noga, said earlier that Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah could easily cripple the power grid in Israel. “We are not in a good state; we are not prepared for war. After 72 hours without electricity, it will not be possible to live in Israel.”

Within 72 hours of Goldstein’s warning, Israelis’ search for portable electricity generators increased five-fold, with some purchasing units that can be charged by solar panels, reported Israel’s Channel 12 on Sunday.

“We must prepare for scenarios involving infrastructure targeting and incidents resulting in many casualties,” Israel’s Channel 7 quoted Gantz as saying at the 2024 Herzliya Conference. “This is the cost of war that should be avoided, but if we must fight, we should not hesitate.”

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The leader of the National Unity Party added that Israel needs to back up its institutions. “We need to be ready for major incidents of harm [to the public]. We should try to avoid it, but if we need to do it, we cannot be deterred from it.”

Israel has occupied land in the south of Lebanon for decades. In solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza, Lebanese and Palestinian factions in Lebanon, most notably Hezbollah, have exchanged rocket fire with the Israeli army since 8 October. Hundreds have been killed and wounded, most of them on the Lebanese side of the border.

More than 62,000 Israelis have been evacuated from settlements near the Lebanese border due to Hezbollah attacks, while 90,000 Lebanese have fled border areas, according to official figures from both countries. The far-right regime in Israel headed by Benjamin Netanyahu hopes to return the displaced to the settlements by early September, in preparation for the start of the new school year.

“We cannot let Hezbollah keep threats close to the northern border,” insisted Gantz. “A major challenge for Israel is to return the southern and northern residents back to their homes, even at the price of escalation. We need to get the [northern] residents back by 1 September.”

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