An Israeli offensive in Lebanon could increase the risk of an escalation of the conflict and the involvement of Iran and Iran-allied military groups, especially if the existence of "Hezbollah" is threatened, a senior US general said last night, quoted by Reuters and BTA.
Air Force Gen. C.C. Brown, who is also chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, did not predict what Israel's next steps might be and acknowledged that it has a right to defend itself. However, Brown warned that a possible Lebanese offensive "could increase the potential for a wider conflict".
"Hezbollah" is more capable than Hamas in terms of overall capabilities, number of missiles and the like. I would say Iran would be more inclined to give more support to Hezbollah, Brown told reporters before stopping in Cape Verde en route to regional defense talks in Botswana.
The Lebanese Shia group "Hezbollah" announced that it had attacked with explosive drones two military sites in northern Israel, where a serviceman was seriously wounded, in response to the killing of the leader of an allied Islamist group in an Israeli strike in eastern Lebanon, AFP reported, quoted by BTA.
The pro-Iranian movement also released a new video that it claims shows objects in Israel with their coordinates, but does not say what they are. It came five days after it published photos from Israel's main port city of Haifa, taken according to "Hezbollah" with a drone, says AFP.
A Lebanese security source informed yesterday that a leader of the Lebanese Islamist faction "Jemaa Islamiyah", close to the Palestinian group "Hamas", was killed in an Israeli strike on his vehicle in the Lebanese city of Hiara in the Bekaa Valley. The Israeli army has confirmed that it has liquidated Ayman Ratma, caught in the act of supplying weapons to "Hamas".
In a statement today "Hezbollah" said the group's fighters carried out an "airstrike with drones loaded with explosives" against Israeli barracks in Beit Hillel as a "retaliatory action against the attack of the Israeli enemy on Hiara".
The Israeli army, in turn, reported that "an enemy drone fired from Lebanon" entered northern Israel but was intercepted. It "was shot down in the Beit Hillel area without causing casualties," added the Israeli military.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last night that the phase of intense military action against "Hamas" is ending, but that the war will not end until the Islamist group ceases to control the Gaza Strip, reported Reuters, quoted by BTA.
Netanyahu said once the intense fighting in Gaza ends, it will allow Israel to deploy more forces along its northern border with Lebanon, where fighting with the Iran-backed group "Hezbollah" intensified.
"Once the intensive phase is over, we will have the opportunity to move some of the forces north. And we will do that. Primarily for defensive purposes. And secondly, to bring our (evacuee) residents back home," Netanyahu said in an interview with Israel's Channel 14.
"If we can, we will do it diplomatically. If not, we will do it another way. But we will bring (the residents) home," he said.
Many Israeli towns near the border with Lebanon were evacuated during the fighting.
Netanyahu also again rejected the idea of the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority ruling Gaza instead of "Hamas".