Report: Netanyahu Warns Lebanon against any Hizbullah Provocation
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that his country would launch a strike against Lebanon if Hizbullah provoked Tel Aviv.
Israeli daily Haaretz reported on Monday that a western diplomat conveyed Netanyahu’s message to the Lebanese government.
The Israeli PM had held talks with the western diplomat in Jerusalem recently, the daily said.
"As far as we're concerned, the Lebanese government is responsible for whatever happens in its jurisdiction," Netanyahu allegedly told the Western diplomat.
The Israeli daily quoted a senior official as saying: “Netanyahu perceives Hizbullah as part of the Lebanese administration… therefore; he clarified that if Hizbullah attacks Israel, the latter will strike back forcefully- without differentiating between Hizbullah and the State of Lebanon.”
However, Haaretz said that Netanyahu’s office refused to comment on the report.
The daily said that any Hizbullah strike against Israel would prompt the Israeli Defense Forces to retaliate against Lebanon's “infrastructure… and would not limit the strike to targets identified with Hizbullah.”
Netanyahu’s threats come in light of several recent reports saying that Israel is preparing for scenarios that might “include a confrontation with Hizbullah.”
Several Israeli officials had warned that the Syrian regime might transfer chemical weapons, missiles or anti-aerial rockets to Hizbullah following the collapse of President Bashar’s Assad’s regime.
Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah warned earlier in the month that his Iranian-backed group would make lives of Israelis "a living hell" if it was attacked.
He said that tens of thousands of Israelis would die, and not just 300 to 500.
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