Israel will continue to use military force to prevent Lebanese terrorists from developing a precision missile production capability, Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz (Likud) said Monday, following a major escalation on the Israel-Lebanese border.
Speaking with Reshet Bet Monday, Katz said that Israel “would not tolerate the precision guidance program” launched by Hezbollah and Iran to upgrade the Shia terror group’s missile arsenal on Israel’s northern border.
“It could leave every house in Israel in danger,” Katz continued. “It is our right to strike and continue to thwart the precision guidance program.”
Katz also spoke out on Israel’s response Sunday afternoon to a barrage of anti-tank missiles fired by Hezbollah terrorists at IDF positions in northern Israel.
“The Prime Minister, together with IDF staff, led [the response] to the incident, following it, charting a course, and was completely involved in this.”
Regarding the IDF maneuver to evacuate soldiers posing as injured victims of the Hezbollah attack in order to trick the terror group into believing it had accomplished its goals, Katz called the move “military maneuvers” and “psychological warfare”.
“There are maneuvers the IDF does, psychological warfare, and other things. The Prime Minister worked according to the meetings and decisions of the Cabinet in the matter.”
Hezbollah terrorists operating in southern Lebanon fired a number of anti-tank missiles at IDF vehicles and an army base in northern Israel Sunday afternoon, scoring multiple hits, an IDF spokesperson said, damaging an army ambulance.
While Hezbollah claimed it had inflicted casualties on Israeli forces, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu later said no IDF soldiers had been killed.
The Israeli army later revealed that it had carried out a mock emergency medical evacuation from the scene of the attack via helicopter in order to trick Hezbollah terrorists into believing they had already accomplished their goals.
Last week, Israel released a report which accused Hezbollah and Iran of working to create precision guided missile production capabilities in Lebanon.
The report was released just days after an explosion in Beirut was attributed to Israeli drone aircraft near a site reportedly used by Hezbollah to store missile propellant.
