Ben Gvir says Lebanon should be Israels playground urges Netanyahu to defy Trump
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir rejected a potential ceasefire in Lebanon on Monday, saying that the country should instead be "Israel's playground".
During his Otzma Yehudit party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset, Ben Gvir called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to communicate the rejection of any peace deal with Lebanon to US President Donald Trump.
"Netanyahu needs to go to President Trump, embrace him and say to him: ‘President Trump, thank you, but what can we do, we cannot fulfil this agreement,'" he said.
"You wouldn’t tolerate having Nazis on your border. You wouldn’t tolerate your soldiers being attacked and being limited in terms of the response. Our response must be 100 percent."
"I want to say thank you to the Americans, but our red line is harming soldiers and harming civilians."
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He also threatened Beirut, likening its future to that of north Gaza's Beit Hanoun, which was largely destroyed by Israel during the ongoing genocidal campaign in the besieged enclave.
"The equation must be very simple and clear: the State of Israel must be safe. If Israel is not safe, Beirut will look like Beit Hanoun," he said.
Watch | Far-right Israeli Minister Itamar Ben Gvir calls for all of Lebanon to be subjected to Israeli attacks:
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) June 21, 2026
“Lebanon, all of Lebanon, should become our playground. All of Lebanon should be our target.
And they tell me, "Wait a second, there is Lebanon and there is… pic.twitter.com/ze9ERKSHzI
The far-right minister also reiterated vows made over the weekend, saying that "not a single tear from an Israeli mother" can be tolerated. "Even if there are tears from a thousand Lebanese mothers, we need to keep going."
During an appearance on Israel's Channel 14, Ben Gvir went on to say that "all of Lebanon should become [Israel's] playground".
"All of Lebanon should be our goal," he doubled-down, rejecting the idea of separating the targeting of Hezbollah from the rest of Lebanon, saying that members of the group operate within the government.
Israel’s expanding military presence in Lebanon and the intensifying air strikes across southern and eastern parts of the country have been a challenging factor for the ceasefire talks between Iran and the US, negotiated by partners including Pakistan and Qatar.
The Lebanon front had become a major point of confrontation between the Trump administration and the Israeli government.
Throughout the ceasefire efforts, Israel repeatedly rejected calls from the US as well as other G7 countries to withdraw troops from southern Lebanon.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah has been calling on the Lebanese government to reject any direct negotiations with Israel while Israeli attacks on Lebanon continue.
But the Lebanese government was openly hopeful that the US-Iran deal could end the hostilities in the region.
Lebanon's Ministry of Health says Israeli attacks since 2 March across the country have killed at least 3,798 people and injured 11,781 others.
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