Israel Threatens to Attack Southern Lebanon if Situation ‘Deteriorates’
Israel threatened on Sunday to launch a large-scale military operation on southern Lebanon if the security situation continues to deteriorate in the region.
“Hizbullah has turned most of the villages in southern Lebanon into explosive spots,” security sources told the Israeli radio.
The sources noted that the Israeli military has recently discovered new combat techniques and headquarters that belong to Hizbullah in the south.
"We have recently discovered new military bases and equipment belonging to Hizbullah in these villages,” they stressed.
The radio quoted the sources as saying that “Israel will try to diminish injuries among civilians (if it launches such an operation), and will direct civilians to leave their houses at the right time and with all the available means.”
The Israeli military launched on June 19 a major five-day home front defense exercise called Turning Point 5, in an attempt to prepare for a possible wave of massive missile attacks on it.
Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah said on Friday during a speech that members of his group had confessed to being CIA agents, and accused arch-foe Israel of turning to the U.S. spy agency after failing to infiltrate his party.
More than 100 people in Lebanon have been arrested on suspicion of spying for Israel since April 2009, including military personnel and telecommunications employees.
Lebanon and Israel technically remain in a state of war and convicted spies face life imprisonment or the death sentence if found guilty of contributing to Lebanese loss of life.
Hizbullah last fought a devastating war with Israel in 2006. The month-long conflict killed more than 1,200 Lebanese, mainly civilians, and 160 Israelis, mainly soldiers, and destroyed much of Lebanon's major infrastructure.
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