Current and former Israeli generals have demanded a change in the rules of game with Hezbollah and called for launching a strike even if the price is another war with Lebanon.
This week, the Lebanese army said in a tweet that an Israeli drone was shot down over Aita al-Shaab, 200 meters from the UN-drawn Blue Line between Israel and Lebanon.
One Israeli general said that the situation at the border "will no longer be tolerated,” after the army’s northern command raised the state of alert over the possibility of a Hezbollah retaliation to the killing of its fighter, Kamal Hassan, in an Israeli strike on Damascus two months ago.
The general told Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth on Friday that this tension led to an ambiguous situation as Israeli citizens move freely on the streets, while army staff hide for fear of being targeted by Hezbollah snipers.
“The Israeli army assumes that Hezbollah wants to kill a soldier to prove the equation of one Israeli soldier killed in exchange of every Hezbollah member killed by the military. Therefore, the party would not target civilians,” the general explained.
This theory is backed up by Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah’s recent warning of a “new equation” with Israel, saying that for every one of its fighters killed by Israel, the group will seek to kill an Israeli soldier.
The general said that in case Hezbollah succeeds in its plot, then Israel should have a strong response. “We must change the new equation that Nasrallah has placed,” he said.
The Israeli generals said the government should not hesitate in taking the decision of launching war on Lebanon.
Israel remains on high alert on its northern border amid expectations that Hezbollah would retaliate to the killing of its members in Syria.
