Israeli Air Force chief says preparations finalised for possible war with Hezbollah
Israeli Air Force chief says preparations finalised for possible war with Hezbollah
Israel and Hezbollah have traded fire for months raising concerns over an all out war. Both sides have warned one another of devastating consequences.
2 min read
Israel has been launching airstrikes on positions across south Lebanon since October [Getty]
Israeli Air Force Commander Tomer Bar said preparations for a possible war against Hezbollah in Lebanon had been completed, warning there would be "surprises".
Bar made the announcement during a meeting with the heads of northern Israeli towns and settlements at the Ramat David Air Base, which Hezbollah shared a drone video of on Wednesday, the third to be published by the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group since June.
The latest video, captured by the "Hoopoe" drone, also shared information about the base’s commander, Colonel Asaf Eshed.
The two other drone videos were from the port city of Haifa and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
"There is full responsibility on the Israeli Air Force to implement all the operational plans. And there will be a knockout punch as lethal as possible, against an enemy we are familiar with, and there will be surprises," Bar said during the Thursday meeting.
"I'll tell you that throughout the entire war we have maintained and are maintaining an ability that, if a war breaks out in the north and with Iran, we will rise to the occasion...we are prepared."
Israel and Hezbollah have engaged in fierce cross-border clashes since October last year in parallel with the Gaza war. Hundreds have been killed in Lebanon, mainly fighters, and tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border have been displaced.
The Israeli government is under immense pressure from northern Israeli residents to facilitate their return home and get rid of what they say is the Hezbollah threat.
Hezbollah has in turn warned Israel against "miscalculations", saying it will deal it a heavy blow if it launches a full-scale war on Lebanon. The militant group has tied an end of hostilities to a ceasefire in Gaza.
Western powers are trying to find a settlement between Lebanon and Israel, which would potentially see Hezbollah fighters move back from the Israeli frontier while Israel withdraws from Lebanese territories it still occupies, and possibly finalise the land border demarcation between the enemy states.
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