Lebanon will be shaken if Hezbollah draws Israel into a war, Israeli Defens

Jerusalem/ Beirut: ‘If Iran-allied militant group Hezbollah incites war against Israel, then it will have to suffer tremendous damage. Even Lebanon will be shaken by Israeli response’, warned Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz. A month ago, a Hezbollah leader claimed that Iran could avenge the death of Major General Qasem Soleimani. But, since the last few days, Hezbollah has started threatening to destroy Israeli cities. Hence, the Defense Minister has stated this in his response.

Last week, the Israeli air force had organised an unannounced war drill towards the north. The Israeli fighter and bomber planes, drones, and helicopters had performed training of striking 3000 targets per day in this three-day-long exercise. In 2006, in a joint war exercise with Hezbollah, the Israel air force had targeted 5000 Hezbollah locations in Lebanon. Thus, against this background, this war drill is said to be Israel’s preparation to newly attack Hezbollah.

Moreover, Hezbollah Chief Hassan Nasrallah slammed this war exercise of Israel. He accused Israel of plotting an attack on Hezbollah via this exercise. ‘Hezbollah does not want to start a war against Israel. But, if Israel sparks a war, it will have to suffer consequences it never has’, threatened Nasrallah. At the same time, Hezbollah will decimate Israeli city, villages and military bases, warned Nasrallah.

So, Israeli Defense Minister Gantz responded to this threat of Hezbollah. ‘Israel is the most competent military across the Middle East. Even then, some outfits make the mistake of threatening Israel. But, if these militant groups, especially Hezbollah and Hamas, draw Israel into war, then it will be them who will suffer the most. Lebanon will be left shaken due to Israeli actions’, warned Gantz. A few days ago, an Israeli intelligence agency had claimed that Hezbollah might draw Israel into war even for a lesser duration.

Hezbollah has a political influence in Lebanon. This militant group receives a supply of rockets, missile systems and other ammunition from Iran. It is claimed that Hezbollah has about 40,000 to 1.5 lakhs of missiles. Apart from these, it is known to have an anti-ship, anti-tank and anti-aircraft missile. Besides, as per the published news, Hezbollah used T-55 and T-72 tankers in the Syrian conflict.