Army chief reportedly worried about escalation as Nabatiyeh becomes target

Army chief Gen. Joseph Aoun is worried about the situation in south Lebanon, Nidaa al-Watan newspaper said Monday, quoting Aoun's visitors.

Aoun told his visitors that the escalation in the south does not bode well as Israel might drag the U.S. into a conflagration, the daily said.

It added that the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon has informed Aoun that the entire city of Nabatiyeh has become a target for Israel.

Last week, an Israeli drone strike had seriously wounded a Hezbollah commander on one of the main roads into the city of Nabatiyeh, a region relatively far from the border.

On Saturday, an Israeli drone struck a car near the coastal town of Jadra about 60 kilometers from the Israeli border, making it one of the farthest inside Lebanon since Oct. 8. The strike killed at least two people and wounded two others. The previous farthest strike was the Jan. 2 attack that killed top Hamas official Saleh Arouri in Beirut.

Shiite Duo sources told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, in remarks published Monday, that Israel has decided to cross the red lines by targeting areas north of the Litani river, in an attempt to drag Hezbollah into war.

The targeting of Jadra was not only an assassination attempt, but it also signalled an expansion of the war, the sources said.

Britain's top diplomat David Cameron had said, during a visit to Lebanon earlier this month, that his country is proposing a plan to de-escalate tensions on the Lebanon-Israel border. Pro-Hezbollah al-Akhbar newspaper claimed that the British plan includes the installation of surveillance towers on both sides of the border to ensure that there are no violations of Resolution 1701.

Nidaa al-Watan said Monday, quoting the army chief's visitors, that Hezbollah has not agreed on building the surveillance towers.