Netanyahu cuts US trip short after UN speech following Israel strikes on Beirut

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cut his trip to the US short and returned to Tel Aviv late on Friday, following a series of unprecedented Israeli strikes on Lebanon’s capital Beirut which resulted in the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Netanyahu was in New York to address the UN General Assembly, where he vowed to continue Israel’s war in Lebanon and Gaza, which has been ongoing for almost a year and resulted in the killing of tens of thousands of people.

Netanyahu was due to arrive back in Israel on Sunday, his office confirmed in an official statement.

"Prime Minister Netanyahu decided to return to Israel earlier than planned, and will depart from the United States [Friday] evening," the premier’s office stated.

Details of what the rest of Netanyahu’s trip would have entailed were not revealed.

Shortly after Netanyahu's UN address on Friday, Israeli fighter jets carried out ferocious air strikes targeting Beirut’s southern suburb of Dahieh, home to Hezbollah’s headquarters.

At least nine people were killed in the strikes and 91 have been injured, according to Lebanon's health ministry.

Dozens of buildings have also been completely destroyed by the Israeli strikes in the densely-populated suburb.

The attacks prompted thousands of the suburb’s residents to flee and seek shelter elsewhere. On Saturday, smoke could still be seen billowing from some of Dahieh’s buildings.

Netanyahu has yet to comment on the strike and the killing of Nasrallah. Israeli military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said the Hezbollah leader had been "eliminated" in a statement on X early on Saturday and this was confirmed by Hezbollah later on.

Netanyahu's office released an image of the premier seemingly engaging in a phone call surrounded by his chief of staff and military secretary in his hotel in New York, before he addressed the UN General Assembly. The Times of Israel described the image as Netanyahu approving the strikes in Beirut.

At UNGA, the premier claimed Israel was "fighting for its life" and sought to address "lies and slander" said about his country from other world leaders at the General Assembly.

Several delegates, led by Turkish diplomats, staged a walk-out before Netanyahu took to the podium, in protest of his presence.

The Israeli premier also accused the UN of being a "contemptuous farce" and "antisemitic", criticising the body for its "treatment" of Israel. The UN and its agencies have condemned Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip and attacks on Lebanon on numerous occasions.

Netanyahu also pledged to continue Israel's attacks in Lebanon until "all objectives are met", and said that "there is no place in Iran that Israel can't reach".

Over 700 people in Lebanon have been killed this week by Israeli forces, in an intensification of attacks, as Israel's brutal military campaign in Gaza continues.

The attacks have been decried globally, and have triggered the displacement of tens of thousands of Lebanese into other parts of the country, as well as Iraq and Syria.