Defense Minister Israel Katz said Thursday he has warned Lebanon that if it does not stop the Hezbollah terror group’s continuing rocket and drone attacks, Israel will “take the territory and do it ourselves.” Meanwhile, Israel expanded its evacuation warnings in south Lebanon, telling more communities further away from the border to leave or risk being targeted as the military escalates its operations against the terror group.
“Hezbollah launched heavy barrages toward the State of Israel yesterday. The IDF responded forcefully in the Dahiyeh and against Hezbollah targets across Lebanon,” Katz said during an assessment with senior Israel Defense Forces officers, referring to Beirut’s southern suburb, a Hezbollah stronghold.
“I warned the president of Lebanon that if the Lebanese government does not know how to control the territory and prevent Hezbollah from threatening the northern communities and firing at Israel, we will take the territory and do it ourselves,” he said. Katz also said that he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had “instructed the IDF to prepare for an expansion of IDF activity in Lebanon to restore calm and security to the northern communities.”
On Wednesday, Hezbollah launched some 200 rockets and around 20 drones at Israel over a period of several hours, marking its heaviest fire since it began its attacks on Israel in support of its sponsor Iran, amid the US-Israeli war against the regime in Tehran. The vast majority of the rockets were intercepted or struck open areas. There were two impacts in residential areas, causing damage and lightly injuring two people. Nearly all of the drones were intercepted, aside from one that crashed near a border community without exploding, according to the military. (Ed note: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir have told everyone, including the government of Lebanon and its military, that if they can't stop Hezbollah, Israel will do it. Danny Danon has delivered the same message to the UN. Get ready!) (Read More)
