Israel warns Syria and Lebanon not to allow any attacks on Israel from their soil. Israel hopes to avoid reprisals for an Israeli air strike in Syria that killed an Iranian general and senior Hezbollah fighters.
“Israel will see the governments, regimes and organizations beyond its northern border as responsible for what emanates from their territory,”
Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said in a statement. He added”
“(Israel) will exact a price for any harm inflicted on Israeli sovereignty, civilians and soldiers.”
Fears of retaliation by Lebanon’s Hezbollah or other groups have risen since Sunday’s attack, prompting Israel to move troops and equipment towards its northern borders with Lebanon and Syria.
The Golan Heights region is on high alert.
Unlike any other Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon usually means what he says and follows with his threats. Ya’alon is considered a hawk in Israel.
It all started when Iran said a general in the elite Iranian Revolutionary Guards force was killed in an Israeli helicopter strike in Syria on Sunday that Iran said also claimed six Hezbollah fighters, fanning concerns that an eight-year truce between the Shiite militia and Israel could weaken.
The officer was identified as Brig. Gen. Muhammad Ali Allahdadi, according to Fars, an Iranian news agency affiliated with the guards. A second state-controlled news agency said that Gen. Allahdadi advised the Syrian government on policy toward rebel groups and Israel.
Hezbollah, which is based in Lebanon and backed by Iran, held funerals Monday for its fighters killed in the strike near the Golan Heights border, including Jihad Mughniyeh, the son of former military chief Imad Mughniyeh, who was assassinated in 2008.
In response to the attacks against the Iranian general, Ami Gemayel, leader of the Western-backed Phalange party said in a televised interview that aired on Sunday night:
“There is no doubt that what happened is dangerous and we extend our condolences for the martyrs of [Hezbollah] and their families,but we must ask until when are we going to entangle Lebanon in wars that are bigger than the country?”
The article above was redacted using two sources of information: Reuters and the Wall Street Journal.
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