"Israel has every right to remove this threat and return our citizens to their home safely," says Benjamin Netanyahu.
UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday said at the United Nations General Assembly that there would be no immediate truce in his country's rapidly escalating conflict with Lebanon.
"We face savage enemies who seek our annihilation, and we must defend ourselves against these savage murderers, (who) seek not only to destroy us but also destroy our common civilization and return all of us to a dark age of tyranny and terror," he said.
"Israel has every right to remove this threat and return our citizens to their home safely. And that's exactly what we're doing … we'll continue degrading Hezbollah until all our objectives are met," added Netanyahu.
Meanwhile, he used a large portion of his speech to warn of threats by -- and to threaten -- Iran, suggesting that Israel has had to defend itself on fronts of conflict organized by Tehran.
"There is no place in Iran that the long arm of Israel cannot reach, and that is true of the entire Middle East," he said. "I have a message for the tyrants of Tehran: If you strike us we will strike you."
Israel has increased the scope of its conflict with Lebanon over the past week, launching attacks against Hezbollah that have taken out top leaders of the militant group and led to more than 600 deaths in Lebanon, according to the country's Health Ministry. The Israel Defense Forces and Hezbollah continued to exchange fire overnight and Friday as casualties mounted. ■
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