The exposure of a Hezbollah network on the border between Israel and Syria is a “message for Hezbollah, the president of Syria and the entire international community,” Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said on Wednesday.
By: JNS.org and United with Israel Staff
On Wednesday, the IDF released a trove information on a Hezbollah terror cell exposed just across the border from Israel in the Syrian-controlled portion of the Golan Heights.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commented on the revelation, remarking, “I have a clear message for Iran and for Hezbollah: Israel knows what you’re doing; Israel knows where you’re doing it. What we’ve uncovered today is just the tip of the iceberg. We know a lot more.”
Netanyahu continued, “Israel will continue to do all that’s necessary to defend itself. We will continue to use all means, overt and covert, to block Iran’s effort to use Syria, Lebanon and Gaza as forward bases for attacking Israel.”
Speaking to Army Radio, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said that a few months ago, Israel had launched an operation to eradicate Hezbollah’s cross-border tunnels in northern Israel, and that Syrian President Bashar Assad “could lose stability in Syria if he allows Hezbollah to entrench itself on the Israeli border.”
Erdan went on to say that “the legitimacy of the Israeli strikes in Syria is part of its coordination with Russia. For Hezbollah, this is not a time at which it wants a conflict with Israel. Our battle against them is being waged diplomatically and in people’s minds.”
“Today, we presented the world with [Hezbollah’s] involvement in terrorism on the Israeli border. That pushes Hezbollah into embarrassment and silence, not toward a conflict with us. If we get into a conflict, the residents of Lebanon and Syria will pay the price. [Hezbollah terrorists] are the ones who will have to explain themselves to the international community,” said Erdan.
Strategic Affairs Minister Yisrael Katz addressed the exposure of the Hezbollah network in an interview to Kan radio.
“The organization there began once the Syrian civil war was mostly over. We are waging an ongoing battle against attempts by Iran and Hezbollah to gain a foothold in Syria and establish a terrorist front against Israel in the Golan Heights. We will not hesitate to take any action necessary to prevent threats,” said Katz.