After an unusual silence from Hezbollah, the terrorist organization based out of Lebanon confirmed that it was indeed attacked by an Israeli airstrike. Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television network broadcasted a statement that vowed revenge on Israel, calling the airstrike an attack on the whole of Lebanon.
“The resistance will choose the right time and place to retaliate for the Israeli offensive,” the Hezbollah statement said. Previously, the group denied any casualties or damage from the airstrike, which occurred near the city of Janta, a popular Hezbollah stronghold.
Janta is a key strategic location for Hezbollah since it lies in the middle of one of the terrorist organizations key arms smuggling routes between Lebanon and Syria. As of 2012, Hezbollah has also maintained an active training facility that trains its operatives in urban and guerilla warfare.
“This new assault is a flagrant aggression against Lebanon, its sovereignty and territories, not against the resistance only,” the statement said.
According to a late statement made by the Lebanese army, “At 21:50 p.m. yesterday [Monday], four Israeli warplanes violated Lebanese airspace above the sea to the west of Chekka [in north Lebanon] and then headed to the east, all the way to the regions of Baalbek and Hermel.
“[The planes] performed circular flights over different Lebanese regions and then left Lebanon’s airspace at 22:25 p.m., flying over the sea facing the village of Naqoura.
“At around 11:15 p.m., an Israeli reconnaissance airplane violated Lebanese airspace above Naqoura and preformed circular flights above the areas of Riaq, Baalbek, Hermel, Beirut and its suburbs and then left Lebanese airspace above Alma Shaeb at 12:15 a.m.”
Lebanese media outlet The Daily Star reported from anonymous Lebanese security sources that two trucks, which were transporting missiles and missile launchers from Syria in Lebanon, were destroyed in the airstrike.
Al-Manar also confirmed that four Hezbollah operatives were killed in the strike. Lebanon’s president and the army chief are said to be conferring on possible counter-responses to the airstrike. According to The Daily Star, President Michel Shleiman and Army Chief of Staff Maj. Walid Salman discussed how to deal with “such aggressions.”
Hezbollah has called on Palestinians in Israel to increase their aggression and resistance against the “Zionist enemy.” Hezbollah believes that the best way to fight the “crimes of the Israeli army” is by “utilizing the political conditions in the region to carry out projects,” such as destroying Jewish holy sites on the Temple Mount.
The IDF and Israeli government have neither confirmed nor denied their involvement in the airstrike. The most that has been said is by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who told reporters: “Our policy is clear – we will not speak about reports of what we did or didn’t do – but we do all that is necessary in order to defend our citizens.”
As of Wednesday, the IDF has put all troops stationed at the northern border with Lebanon on high alert. The IDF is taking seriously Hezbollah’s vow of vengeance. Farmers in the north were instructed to stay away from the border and civil defense communities are also operating on a high alert status.
Chairman of the Committee for Foreign Policy and National Security in the Iranian Parliament Alaeddin Boroujerdi told reporters in Iran, “If the Zionist entity is thinking about carrying out an attack, Hezbollah will cause it to taste defeat again.”
The last time Israel and Hezbollah faced off was during the Second Lebanon War in 2006.
