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Lieberman Says Third Lebanon War is Inevitable

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has said that a third war with Lebanon has become inevitable, stressing that Hizbullah's latest attack on the Jewish State has changed the rules of the game.

"A fourth operation in the Gaza Strip is inevitable, just as a third Lebanon war is inevitable," Lieberman told Ynet, the website of the Israeli daily Yedioth Aharonoth, on Sunday.

"There's no doubt the rules of the game have been changed, what Hizbullah forced upon us. We don't respond, but rather decide to contain this incident. I think that's completely unreasonable,” he said.

“Hizbullah is bolder, more determined, more provocative. This is a precedent that everyone's following, they're following our response or lack thereof," he added.

Israel and Hizbullah engaged last Wednesday in the deadliest clashes on the disputed frontier since the 2006 war between them.

The violence erupted when Hizbullah fired a salvo of anti-tank missiles at an Israeli military convoy, killing two soldiers and wounding seven.

Israel responded with shelling. A Spanish peacekeeper with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon was killed in the exchange.

Lieberman said after the attack that Israel should respond to the attack "in a very harsh and disproportionate manner.”


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