Netanyahu threatens ‘crushing military strike’ against Hizballah in latest war of words

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel will deliver a "crushing" strike against Hizballah if the Lebanese militant group attempts to attack.

Speaking to his cabinet on Sunday, Netanyahu criticized what he called Nasrallah's "arrogant" words, saying that the Israeli army had recently destroyed secret Hizballah tunnels leading from Lebanon to Israel.

"If Hizballah dares to do something stupid and attack Israel, we will strike it and Lebanon, a crushing military strike," Netanyahu warned.

The Israeli PM was reacting to comments made by Hizballah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah just a day earlier.

In an interview on Friday, Nasrallah said that his group is much stronger than during the 2006 war and is capable of striking anywhere in Israel. Pointing to a map, Nasrallah identified a list of targets he said his group could strike, saying "in all fields, the resistance has developed in quantity and quality."

Nasrallah added that "any war will be bigger than the 2006 war for Israel and it will put it on the brink of extinction".

The Lebanese Shia group battled Israel to a stalemate in a month-long war in 2006 and has since gained valuable battle experience in the Syrian civil war. 

Over the past 13 years, Israel has carried out dozens of airstrikes against suspected weapons shipments from Iran through Syria to Lebanon and has engaged in several dust ups. But its field training has been primarily aimed toward delivering a far more decisive victory in its next full-scale war with Hizballah.