Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refuses to confirm whether or not Israel attacked Hezbollah targets this week, but he stressed Israel’s commitment to defend the Jewish state.
Responding to reports that the Israeli Air Force was responsible for successfully striking Hezbollah targets at the Syrian-Lebanese border, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu neither confirmed nor denied the allegations. However, during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the Israeli leader reiterated Israel’s commitment to defend its citizens.
“Our policy is clear – we will not speak about reports of what we did or didn’t do – but we do all that is necessary in order to defend our citizens,” Netanyahu declared.
Hezbollah denied there had been a raid on Lebanese territory, acknowledging only that enemy planes were spotted.
The Lebanese press, however, reported that Israeli warplanes struck, killing a number of “militants.”
“According to reports,” Israel Hayom says, “the IAF bombed two targets at around 10 p.m. on Monday night. Residents of the Lebanese towns of Al-Nabi Shayth, Janta and Yahfoufa in the Baalbek region of the Bekaa Valley, located very close to the border with Syria, reported hearing aircraft and explosions. There were also reports of numerous secondary explosions and fires breaking out.”
“It is as of yet unclear what the targets actually were or where precisely the strikes took place,” the newspaper continues, adding that reports vary. Targets named include Hezbollah weapons-storage facilities, a Hezbollah rocket base and an arms convoy traversing the Syria-Lebanon border.
Three people were reportedly killed and at least 10 were wounded.
“The porous border between Lebanon and Syria is frequently used by fighters and smugglers to move people and weapons between the two countries,” Israel Hayom explains. “Hezbollah is a close ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime.”
“Since the end of the 2006 Second Lebanon War, Israeli officials believe Hezbollah has restocked its arsenal with tens of thousands of rockets and missiles, some of which are capable of striking virtually anywhere inside Israel. While Israel has tried to stay out of the war in neighboring Syria, it has repeatedly warned that it would act to thwart the transfer of advanced weaponry from Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon. Over the past year, the Israeli military has reportedly carried out strikes inside Syria to halt such transfers. Israel has never officially confirmed the strikes.”
The Jerusalem Post reports that “eyewitnesses told the Lebanese press that the IAF jets were seen flying out to sea and back toward Israel.”
Furthermore, the Post says, “Foreign media reports have attributed five alleged Israeli air strikes on targets in Syria in 2013, reportedly to prevent the transfer of strategic arms to Hezbollah.”
Times of Israel says that “Hezbollah seemed eager to downplay the reports that there had been a strike in Lebanon, which would require the group, already stretched thin by fighting in Syria, to respond to Israel.”
Date: Feb. 25, 2014