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Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has drawn international condemnation after declaring that “all of Lebanon must burn.”

Getting into it: Ben-Gvir posted the remarks on X on Friday after four Israeli soldiers were killed in southern Lebanon, writing that “for every tear of an Israeli mother, a thousand Lebanese mothers must weep” and calling for Israel to “go berserk. To obliterate.” He took a swipe at the United States too, saying that “with all due respect to the Americans,” Israel’s security was not “forfeit,” and rejected the US-Iran deal, insisting Israel “is not subordinate to the United States.”

The far-right minister was echoed by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who called for “opening the gates of hell” in Lebanon, while Defense Minister Israel Katz said the roughly 200,000 displaced residents of the southern security zone would never be allowed to return.

The comments drew condemnation from Israel’s allies, with UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper calling them “horrendous and abhorrent” and Norway’s foreign minister warning they undermine peace efforts. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also jumped on the post, tagging Trump and Vance, and calling the Israeli leadership “a genocidal death cult headquartered in Tel Aviv” whose “only interest is permanent war.”

Inside Israel, Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar stayed silent, while former prime minister Naftali Bennett, who hopes to unseat Netanyahu in October, dismissed Ben-Gvir as a “clown” who “doesn’t command the IDF.”

This all comes as the Lebanon front has become a major flashpoint between the Trump administration and Israel, threatening the US-Iran deal that calls for a halt to fighting on all fronts. Israeli strikes have continued despite a ceasefire with Hezbollah. Israel maintains that their strikes are in response to rocket attacks from Hezbollah, which they deny. The operations have resulted in 4,000 people dying and more than 1 million being displaced in Lebanon since early March (according to Lebanese figures).