| Submit your comments on this article |
| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| No escalation on Lebanon border: Israeli commander |
| 2010-01-25 |
| JERUSALEM - A top Israeli military commander on Sunday denied that there were rising tensions with the armed Hezbollah group along the Lebanon border a day after an Israeli minister warned of a new war. Reports of another imminent round of fighting represent a “virtual escalation' with no basis in reality, Major General Gadi Eizenkot of the northern command told Israeli media at a conference in Tel Aviv. Israel and Hezbollah fought to a bloody stalemate in the summer of 2006, with 1,200 Lebanese, most of them civilians, and more than 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers, killed in the war. “(Hezbollah) hasn't executed an attack since the Second Lebanon War,' Eizenkot said. “But Hezbollah is getting stronger and we are preparing for all options in order to be able to act effectively.' His remarks came the day after Yossi Peled, a minister without portfolio, said Israel was heading toward a “new confrontation' with the group. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought to dispel tensions following Peled's remarks by issuing a statement stressing that “Israel does not wish at all to have a confrontation with Lebanon.' The Jewish state seeks “peace with Lebanon and with all its neighbours,' the statement added. Eizenkot said that despite the calm the Lebanese Shiite militia had doubled its arsenal of rockets since the war and warned that the Israeli response to any attack would be “disproportionate.' |
| Posted by:Steve White |