Israeli Army Chief Does Not Rule Out Future 'Fighting in Lebanon'
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Outgoing Israeli army chief of staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz was optimistic that Hizbullah would not launch an attack on the Jewish state soon but did not rule out a future war.
“We don’t expect war to be initiated against us in the coming year, but there could be a deterioration as a result of specific events” as occurred in the Gaza Strip, Gantz said in interviews published in eight newspapers in the past days and over the weekend.
“Neither Hizbullah nor Hamas currently want to start a war with us. Our enemies face other challenges at the moment, but the instability is such that I can’t promise that we won’t be fighting in Lebanon in 2015.”
Gantz will leave his post in four months. But he made sure to warn that Hizbullah would do well to learn from the capabilities demonstrated by the Israeli military in the recent bloody campaign on Gaza.
Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan "Nasrallah sees that the Israeli society didn't break apart and was ready to pay the price (in Gaza), and that we know to do in Lebanon what we did in Gaza," warned the Israeli army head.
While the Arab world is busy with wars and fights against terrorism, the common enemy remains Israel, reminded Gantz.
"Our enemies are currently busy with other problems, but who is next in line for all of them? Us!" stated Gantz. "If Hizbullah weren't busy now doing what Iran tells them to do in Syria who is their fixed enemy? Us."
Hizbullah has sent thousands of fighters to Syria to help troops loyal to President Bashar Assad fighting rebels seeking to topple him.
In the same interviews, Gantz defended the Israeli army's performance during the latest aggression on Gaza, noting that the strategic objectives of the operation were not “the occupation of Gaza or the collapse of Hamas.”
During the 50-day war, Israel launched several thousand airstrikes and unleashed artillery barrages at what it said were Hamas-linked targets in Gaza, flattening entire neighborhoods. Hamas fired thousands of rockets and mortar shells at Israeli communities during the fighting.
Gantz said that the militant group suffered military setbacks during the war, but that Israel can only secure long-term quiet on its border with Gaza if "an economic anchor backs up what was achieved in the fighting."
"We need to permit the opening of the strip to goods," Gantz was quoted as saying. "In the end, there are 1.8 million people there, with Israel and Egypt surrounding them. These people need to live."
04 October 2014, 08:56
89
...and of course as usual, the normal Lebanese civilians are stuck in the middle of this religious garbage, hope you're both proud of yourselves...
04 October 2014, 09:01
711
Israel is not and was never HA's priority. Their religious Jihad war against their fellow moslems is their number one priority. I wonder what is their plan or timetable for liberating Shebaa Farms or Jerusalem .
04 October 2014, 10:06
116
What fellow muslims ex? Nusra or Da3ish? I know those are the ones you support, whom are not considered muslims.
04 October 2014, 10:13
710
oh, the ones your terrorists in so many videos said they wanted to kill and liberate Mecca from. You know what I mean I am sure.
04 October 2014, 10:15
711
When you and HA went to Syria to kill innocent women and children there was no ISIS.
04 October 2014, 10:22
69
fellow muslims in Bahrain and Yemen are they also Da3esh ya sectarian?!
04 October 2014, 10:02
116
Israeli military advisors, keeps warning Netanyahu about Hezbollahs new capabilities, they've received from the Syrian unrest.
Your idiotic assumptions, are far from reality.
http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/147453
04 October 2014, 10:14
610
Please not another "victory" Lebanon has suffered enough for the your countries "Iran" agenda dont u think? And if victories were like that I'd hate to see a loss. :)
04 October 2014, 10:16
610
yes of course, it is always the same: overstate your alleged enemy's capabilities in order to get more funding. When are you going to liberate Shebaa farms?
04 October 2014, 10:20
125
Israel archieved none of it's objectives during the 2006 war, they also ended up retreating from Lebanon.
04 October 2014, 10:24
612
yes they retreated to the Litani river and closed the airport, port, and every road in Lebanon. "Had I known" you were such an idiot I would have not replied.
04 October 2014, 10:08
116
Which is the reason why, Israel has been targeting Hezbollah stockpiles and Syrian Army bases and aeroplanes, and haven't shot at neither Nusra or ISIS even once.
Your garbage doesn't add up.
05 October 2014, 14:50
01
under the standard layer of hasbara BS, gantz confirming two things:
-da3esh/nusra works for them, and their main reason for being is to attack hezbollah, trying to weaken it and divert its focus from israel the real enemy
-israel still does not dare attack lebanon, it has been 8 years and counting since the last time they tried.
even while having to deal with da3esh/nusra, hezbollah still has more than enough capabilities to smash the israeli boyscouts if they ever tried an adventure here, and they know it.
06 October 2014, 05:30
00
Nice avatar of a filthy terrorist, would've hoped he's burning in hell, but I'm an atheist.
04 October 2014, 12:10
57
So its ok for a militia to decide war and peace in Lebanon? This is the type of country u want to leave behind for the future generations?
04 October 2014, 13:02
68
The militia was set up by Iran as part of the struggle to control the middle east get it right please and less of your bull propaganda this works on the poor brainwashed masses but not with anyone who has half a brain. Iran funds you ie they own u. Your loyalty lies with another country. All the rest of your arguments are a smokescreen ( and not a very good one).
04 October 2014, 13:08
68
Fortify the LAF? When the army is fully capable? Whatever happened to the shebba farms issue, and the liberation of Jerusalem issue you kept throwing on the table not so long ago. My my how your memory betrays you. Last thing u want is a fortified LAF, you want a weak eroded state, its in your masters interest, you want it to look like a farm and an example of your state is when u go to the port, customs or government establishment where your said and istaz backed brokers meet u at the entrance in order to finish the simplest procedures otherwise dont dream of completing anything.
04 October 2014, 14:03
00
some moral support for hassan in difficult times..
thats the corollaire of ziad..
wilayat el faqih in real trouble.
04 October 2014, 15:14
28
Oh yes not to mention tens of thousands of displaced, billions of dollars in damage, loss of tourism which indirectly affected the whole country we are after all tourist country and our economy relies on that unless you consider captogon a substitute. History will not forgive you for all the harm u have done to Lebanon.
05 October 2014, 08:37
00
You will be retiring in the Hague...6 feet under ground in a dark and cold cell just for all those children and women you killed and mutilated. Your day is coming. You have no sense of humanity let alone humility. You're a war monger and will rot in Jail the rest of your old days along with your bosses from within the Knesset and Ministry. Shalom zabri.
