TEL AVIV, October 1. /TASS/. Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who leads the far-right Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party, said it was time to crush Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah movement to ensure the return of displaced people to the northern parts of the Jewish state.

"The decisions we have made in the past few days are important and necessary. Now is not the time to stop. We must continue to do our best and to crush the Hezbollah terrorist organization to let the residents of the north [of Israel] return safely to their homes," Ben-Gvir wrote on his social media page X. He says he is "praying for the success of the Israel Defense Forces," which, he said, is "fighting hard in southern Lebanon."

On September 23, Israel launched Operation Northern Arrows against Hezbollah. It has been conducting massive airstrikes against military installations of the Lebanese Shiite movement. One of the attacks killed Hezbollah’s leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrullah in Beirut on September 27. The Shiite movement confirmed his death and vowed to continue the confrontation with Israel. On the night of October 1, the IDF began a limited ground operation in border areas in southern Lebanon.