'Israel' not interested in war with Hezbollah: Gallant
4 Min Read
The Israeli occupation underlines that it does not want war with Hezbollah as tensions continue to rise on the northern front.
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An Israeli soldier walks during a rainfall near the Lebanese-Palestinian border area, October 15, 2023 (AP)
The Israeli occupation has no interest in waging war on the northern front, namely Lebanon, Israeli Security Minister Yoav Gallant said Sunday in light of stark tensions on the Lebanese-Palestinian border area.
The Islamic Resistance in Lebanon has been confronting the Israeli occupation forces on the northern borders of occupied Palestine over the past week in tandem with the Palestinian Resistance confronting the Israeli occupation in the Gaza Envelope, which is raising concerns within the Israeli establishment that the aggression on Gaza could turn into an all-out regional war.
"We have no interest in a war in the north. We don't want to escalate the situation," Security Minister Yoav Gallant told reporters.
"If Hezbollah chooses the path of war, it will pay a very heavy price. Very heavy. But if it restrains itself, we will respect that and keep the situation as it is," Gallant said, noting that there had been exchanges of fire across the Palestinian-Lebanese border area.
Moreover, the spokesperson for the Israeli occupation forces revealed that "Israel" is preparing for a potential multi-front war as tensions continue to mount along the separation wall in Gaza and the border with Lebanon.
"We have recruited some 300,000 reservists in order to be prepared for any eventuality. Those reservists are both for the southern front, on the border with Gaza, so they're in staging grounds preparing for a potential ground invasion if the government instructs us to do so," IOF spokesperson Peter Lerner told ABC News.
He also revealed that while the IOF are centered around Gaza, they are also "dispersed" on the border and frontier with Lebanon "in anticipation for potential uptick in violence with Hezbollah."
"We have had several skirmishes along the border over the last few days. And even today, during the day, we've had anti-tank guided missiles fired at forces, indeed causing some casualties. So we need to be prepared," he further added.
"I would highly recommend that Hezbollah watch very closely what is happening to Hamas and the organization in Gaza as we speak," he concluded, in a clear threat to the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon.
Islamic Resistance strikes Israeli pride
Hezbollah announced on Sunday it successfully targeted a Merkava tank in al-Raheb Israeli occupation military site using anti-tank guided missiles.
In a statement, the Lebanese Resistance group confirmed that the tank was hit directly, resulting in casualties among the crew.
The Israeli occupation army confirmed the operation.
This is the second consecutive targeting that Hezbollah claimed responsibility for on the same day.
Moreover, earlier in the day, an Israeli military outpost located in the settlement of "Shtula" near the Lebanese border was targeted by the Resistance faction with anti-tank-guided missiles.
In a statement, Hezbollah said the operation came in response to the Israeli aggression on a team of journalists on Friday in southern Lebanon, which led to the martyrdom of Lebanese Reuters reporter Issam Abdallah and the wounding of others of his colleagues, the statement said, adding that It is also in response to the Israeli shelling on a civilian home in Shebaa, which resulted in the martyrdom of two elderly Lebanese civilians: Khalil Ali Hashem and Rabab Al-Aaqoum.
Read more: Hezbollah shells Israeli posts, vows retaliation for killed reporter
Meanwhile, the Israeli occupation military confirmed the killing of one Israeli and the wounding of five others.
On Saturday, Hezbollah announced targeting five Israeli occupation military sites in the occupied Lebanese Shebaa Farms. Precise impacts were reported.
