I said that southern Lebanon would become Gaza. We would apply the Rafah model. We would destroy everything there. We would deal with them in exactly that way.

And that is what we did.

The infrastructure has been destroyed. Homes in 24 villages along the border—villages that had existed for hundreds of years and were used by Hezbollah as military outposts against Israel—have been demolished.

The army systematically flattened the villages with bulldozers and explosives.

90% of the houses are gone. Between 15,000 and 20,000 homes have been destroyed.

The 200,000 former residents of southern Lebanon will not return there for a very long time.

You have to understand that half of their homes have already been destroyed. There are no residents there anymore.

There are soldiers and destroyed houses.

One of the very first conditions they raise whenever negotiations begin is that the targeted killings must stop.

This Israeli method drives them crazy.

The buildings above ground are part of the threat. They are what allow the enemy to come back every time.

That is why they must be systematically demolished.

Since we struck the nuclear program, they have not resumed it. They have not resumed it. That's a fact.

To restart it, they would first have to make a decision—and they haven't made that decision.

The IDF has been instructed by the Prime Minister and by me to prepare for an independent Israeli military operation against Iran.

The Strait of Hormuz is open to all vessels seeking to lawfully transit the international waterway.

U.S. forces are positioned and prepared to ensure that freedom of navigation remains available despite unwarranted Iranian aggression, harassment, threats, and arbitrary declarations.

Iran does not control the strait. Traffic is flowing.

Due to the recent illegal movements of the U.S. military in the region, passage through the Strait of Hormuz is currently not possible.

As soon as stability and calm are restored, all requests will be reviewed based on the schedule, and the necessary permits will be issued.

He was unabashedly for America, and he was unabashedly against the enemies of America. And he spoke what he thought.

I had a way with him. He had this charming Southern drawl.

He was a wonderful, wonderful friend, a great American patriot, and a great champion of the Israel-American alliance.

I'll miss him, personally, a lot. I really, really thought the world of him. I think the world has lost a great human being. America's lost a great senator and we have lost a great friend.

Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz. It remains an international waterway.

U.S. forces are positioned and prepared to keep it that way.

This is a big blow to the SAVE America Act, let me tell you.