WATCH: Pentagon holds briefing as Israel vows to continue fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon

Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh held a news briefing on Friday as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told world leaders at the United Nations that his nation will “continue degrading Hezbollah” until achieving its goals along the Lebanon border, further dimming hopes for an internationally backed cease-fire to halt the spiral into an all-out regional war.

Watch the event in the player above.

Shortly after Netanyahu wrapped up his speech, the Israeli military said it carried out a strike on Hezbollah’s headquarters in Beirut, which caused huge blasts in the city.

“Israel has every right to remove this threat and return our citizens to their home safely. And that’s exactly what we’re doing … we’ll continue degrading Hezbollah until all our objectives are met,” Netanyahu said to a gallery that — at least from the crowd noise — appeared replete with his supporters.

“Just imagine if terrorists turned El Paso and San Diego into ghost towns … How long would the American government tolerate that?” he said, shaking his fist in emphasis. “Yet Israel has been tolerating this intolerable situation for almost a year. Well, I’ve come here today to say: Enough is enough.”

Netanyahu, armed with visual aids as he has been in the past, defended his nation’s response to the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas on Israel that triggered an Israeli military operation that has devastated the Gaza Strip. He said he traveled to the United Nations to refute the untruths he had heard from other leaders on the same rostrum earlier in the week.

“I didn’t intend to come here this year. My country is at war fighting for its life,” Netanyahu said. “But after I heard the lies and slanders leveled at my country by many of the speakers at this podium, I decided to come here and set the record straight.”

He insisted that Israel wanted peace but said of Iran: “If you strike us, we will strike you.” He once again blamed Iran for being behind many of the problems in the region.

“For too long, the world has appeased Iran,” Netanyahu said. “That appeasement must end.”

As he spoke, the seats in the Iran delegation sat empty. Outside, protesters against Netanyahu and Israel’s policies demonstrated behind police barricades.