When Benjamin Netanyahu strode to the podium to address the UN General Assembly on Friday, observers expected that he would respond to a US-led proposal for a three-week ceasefire to end the spiralling conflict between Israel and Hizbollah.

Instead, the Israeli prime minister delivered one of his most belligerent speeches, vowing to continue “degrading Hizbollah until all our objectives are met” and saying “they put a missile in every [Lebanese] kitchen. A rocket in every garage.”

Less than two hours later, Netanyahu ordered Israel’s biggest strike yet on the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hizbollah stronghold but also one of the Lebanese capital’s most densely populated areas. The target was Hassan Nasrallah, the 64-year-old cleric who led Hizbollah for more than three decades.