Israel Threatens Lebanon with ‘Massive Destruction’ if Attacked

An Israeli soldier stands guard next to an Iron Dome anti-missile system near the Israel's northern border with Lebanon, July 27, 2020. (Reuters)
An Israeli soldier stands guard next to an Iron Dome anti-missile system near the Israel's northern border with Lebanon, July 27, 2020. (Reuters)
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Israel Threatens Lebanon with ‘Massive Destruction’ if Attacked

An Israeli soldier stands guard next to an Iron Dome anti-missile system near the Israel's northern border with Lebanon, July 27, 2020. (Reuters)
An Israeli soldier stands guard next to an Iron Dome anti-missile system near the Israel's northern border with Lebanon, July 27, 2020. (Reuters)

Israeli Minister of Security and alternative prime minister, Benny Gantz, threatened to make Lebanon pay a “heavy price” and inflict it with “enormous destruction” if a war broke out against Israel from the northern front.

He made his remarks as the Israeli kicked off on Tuesday a military exercise dubbed the “Lightning Storm”, on the Lebanese borders.

Gantz had sent a recorded speech that was broadcast at the annual ceremony commemorating the 24th anniversary of a helicopter disaster that took place in 1997 when two helicopters carrying Israeli troops to the occupied zone in southern Lebanon collided in the air, killing all 73 soldiers.

“If a [fighting] front breaks out in the north, the country of Lebanon will be the one to pay the heaviest of prices for the weapons that have been scattered in civilian population centers,” Gantz said.

“We have clarified — again and again — that we will not allow Hezbollah and the Iranians to turn Lebanon into a terror state… We will not hesitate to strike Iran’s efforts to rearm and entrench itself beyond our borders.”

“[Hezbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah knows well that his decision to build bunkers full of munitions and missiles and to position Hezbollah capabilities is a danger to himself and to the citizens of the state of Lebanon,” the Israeli defense minister said, calling on the Lebanese government to “take responsibility.”

The two-day training at the northern border adjacent to Lebanese territory aims to enhance the readiness of Israeli forces of the Northern Command along the borders, according to a statement by the army.



Syria’s Al-Sharaa Says No to Arms Outside State Control

Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
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Syria’s Al-Sharaa Says No to Arms Outside State Control

Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa said his administration would announce the new structure of the defense ministry and military within days.

In a joint press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Sunday, al-Sharaa said that his administration would not allow for arms outside the control of the state.

An official source told Reuters on Saturday that Murhaf Abu Qasra, a leading figure in the insurgency that toppled Bashar al-Assad two weeks ago, had been named as defense minister in the interim government.
Sharaa did not mention the appointment of a new defense minister on Sunday.
Sharaa discussed the form military institutions would take during a meeting with armed factions on Saturday, state news agency SANA said.
Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir said last week that the defense ministry would be restructured using former opposition factions and officers who defected from Assad's army.

Earlier Sunday, Lebanon’s Druze leader Walid Jumblatt held talks with al-Sharaa in Damascus.

Jumblatt expressed hope that Lebanese-Syrian relations “will return to normal.”

“Syria was a source of concern and disturbance, and its interference in Lebanese affairs was negative,” al-Sharaa said, referring to the Assad government. “Syria will no longer be a case of negative interference in Lebanon," he added.