Ferzli Says New War with Israel is 'Unlikely'
Deputy Parliament Speaker Elie Ferzli on Wednesday ruled out the possibility of a new Lebanese-Israeli war, but said that a response to Israel’s drone attack on southern suburbs of Beirut was inevitable.
“Israel has breached the rules of engagement (drawn up after the end of the 2006 conflict between Israel and Hizbullah) and UN Security Council Resolution 1701. But I don't think there will be a new war,” said Ferzli in remarks to VDL (93.3) radio station.
“A response to the attacks is inevitable but the timing depends on the conditions and calculations of the battle,” he added.
Ferzli noted that Israel has an aggressive strategy it plans to invest before the Israeli elections.
He said that “Israel has chosen Lebanon based on the philosophy that Hizbullah has its hands tied and can not respond because of the situation in Lebanon and the difficult internal conditions will prevent it from doing so.”
One drone came down and another exploded early Sunday in a Hizbullah stronghold in the southern Beirut suburb of Mouawad, damaging a Hizbullah media center and lightly injuring three people who were in the building.
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah had on Sunday vowed to "do everything" to thwart Israeli drone attacks in Lebanon, threatening to down any unmanned aircraft that violates Lebanon’s airspace. He also pledged to retaliate from Lebanon against an Israeli airstrike that killed two Hizbullah members in Syria.
Source: Naharnet
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/264198 |