While Israeli Minister warns of “inevitable” war with Hezbollah, the PM Netanyahu speaks of “peace with neighbours”:
Israeli Minister Warns of New War With Hezbollah
Israel is heading toward a new war with Lebanon’s Shiite movement Hezbollah, a cabinet minister warned Saturday in remarks carried by military radio and the popular Ynet news website.
“We are heading toward a new confrontation in the north but I don’t know when it will happen, just as we did not know when the second Lebanon war would erupt,” said Yossi Peled, a minister without portfolio and a reserve army general.
He was referring to the devastating war Israel fought with Hezbollah in 2006, which killed more than 1,200 Lebanese, most of them civilians, and more than 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers.
Hezbollah is part of a new coalition government formed in November by US- and Saudi-backed Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri. The group is also the only faction still armed after Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war.
“Although Hezbollah is part of the Lebanese government, the latter has no influence on it,” Peled said, adding the Jewish state will hold Hezbollah and its ally Syria responsible for any attack on Israel.
Netanyahu: Israel has no plans to attack Lebanon
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Saturday that Israel has no intention of carrying out an offensive against Lebanon, speaking hours after a minister in his cabinet said that a military conflict between Israel and the Lebanese militia Hezbollah was “inevitable.”
“The State of Israel is not looking for any kind of confrontation with Lebanon,” Netanyahu said in a statement released by his office, adding, “Israel seeks peace with all of its neighbors.”
Minister without portfolio Yossi Peled said earlier Saturday that “we can’t sleep easy” in regard to Israel’s shared border with Lebanon. He emphasized that “we’re in for another round in the north, but I don’t know when,” with the first round being the 34 days of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah during the Second Lebanon War in the summer of 2006.
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The sky is falling!!!!
(Cue to Nelson from the Simpsons)
Ha Ha!