Israel bolstered its troops on the northern border with Lebanon and Syria in preparation for any retaliation as Israeli Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Penny Gantz delivered Monday strong statements against the Iranian activities in Syria.
In his briefing to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, the Minister said Israel would continue exerting efforts to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear power, and from operating in Syria.
“Iran is interested in launching a terror branch in Syria, and we must strongly prevent the opening of this branch. We are operating in Syria and in other places around the region all the time and with all kinds of methods, and we will continue to do so,” Gantz said.
The Minister said Tehran has thousands of proxies in Syria, in Yemen, in African countries, in addition to cells in Europe and other countries around the world.
“We can’t and must not ignore this. We must not ignore its nuclear efforts and its negative impact on the Middle East,” he stressed.
The Israeli minister said his country is ready for a war with Lebanon if such war is imposed on Tel Aviv.
Gantz warned that such war would have serious consequences on Lebanon.
"While Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah is our biggest enemy in the north, he is Lebanon's biggest problem,” he said.
Meanwhile, Israeli army sources uncovered that construction works have stopped at the Snir facility, which is meant to prepare "Israeli" soldiers for urban warfare, including subterranean combat.
The training facility is located in the occupied Golan Heights and is meant to simulate a Lebanese village of the type "Israeli" soldiers might find themselves in should war break out with Hezbollah.
The sources said large sums of money were spent on this facility.
“Now, it is similar to a ghost city. We don’t know why works stopped there,” the source said.
