“We saw Hezbollah’s preparations yesterday. We have been following the development since noon. There may be a continuation,” an Israeli source said.
After an infiltration attempt by a Hezbollah cell along the Israel-Lebanon border was foiled on Monday afternoon, the terror group both denied that it had happened and promised that retaliation would come.
According to a statement by the Hezbollah mouthpiece Al-Manar, “All that the enemy media claims about thwarting an infiltration operation from Lebanese territory… is absolutely not true. It’s an attempt to invent fake victories.”
“The fire that was fired was only on one side, not on our side. The enemy is deterred and scared and therefore opened fire,” the statement on Al-Manar‘s website said.
At the same time, Hezbollah’s threats continued. “Our response to the killing of Ali Kamel Mohsen Jawad will surely come.”
Jawad was the Hezbollah terrorist killed by an airstrike against what had been described as a major ammunition dump in southern Damascus. The airstrike, attributed to Israel, took place on July 20.
Hezbollah reported that Jawad had been killed by “Zionist aggression.” The attack also wounded seven Syrian troops.
At Hezbollah’s announcement, Israel immediately went on high alert along the Lebanese border. Hezbollah has retaliated for the killing of it members before.
“If Israel kills any of our members in Syria, we’ll respond from Lebanon,” Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said in August after two of its members were killed by an IDF airstrike. In that incident, the terrorists were on the verge of launching a drone attack on Israel.
Hezbollah did take action after that event, firing three anti-tank missiles, one of which nearly hit an IDF ambulance.
Israel is prepared for the possibility of further attacks. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Alternate Prime Minister and Defense Minister Benny Gantz held a press conference at IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv in which they warned Hezbollah and Lebanon that there would be consequences if the terror group made another attempt.
An Israeli political source quoted by Channel 12 said, “We saw Hezbollah’s preparations yesterday. We have been following the development since noon. There may be a continuation.”
Israel gave the all-clear for civilians in the north at 5:00 p.m. to resume their normal activities. However, at 7:00 p.m. the sound of tank fire, cannons and IDF aircraft could be still be heard, Channel 12 reports.
(World Israel News).