The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi speaking at Israel’s first National Conference on the Home Front on June 12. Source: the IDF.
The Israeli military’s Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi made a series of chilling threats to Lebanon while talking at Israel’s first National Conference on the Home Front on June 12.
In his speech, Kochavi detailed the Israeli military’s strategy for responding to an attack that Hezbollah could launch from Lebanon.
“We will deal very big strikes in the war, but we will warn the residents and allow them to leave the areas. I say to the residents of Lebanon: I advise you to leave, not only at the beginning of the war, but from the beginning of tension and before the first shot is fired. I advise you to leave those areas because the attack force will be unimaginable like you nothing you have witnessed before,” Kochavi said.
Kochavi vowed that the Israeli military will target any rocket launcher or headquarters of Hezbollah, even if they were hidden in residential buildings.
“Every target associated with missiles and rockets will be targeted in the next war,” the military leader said. “A house in which a missile is located or located near a missile, an activist who deals with a missile, a command headquarters that deals with a missile, or electricity connected to a group of missiles – all of this network will be hit on the day of the war.”
According to Kochavi, the Israeli military has already pinpointed thousands of targets in Lebanon to destroy in the event of a war, including Hezbollah headquarters, rockets and launchers.
Kochavi threats appear to be a direct response to a recent speech by Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, in which the Lebanese leader warned Israel against extracting gas from the disputed Karish naval field.
The Lebanese-Israeli dispute over Karish heated up earlier this month when the Greek-owned Energean Power FPSO [Floating Production Storage Offloading] reached the field to extract gas. Lebanon claims that a part of Karish is within its exclusive economic zone.
With the lack of any real progress in the US-backed talks on the demarcation of the naval borders between Lebanon and Israel, the two countries may be on the course for a military confrontation.
Both Israel and Hezbollah appear to be serious about their threats. While Hezbollah will not likely take any military action without the approval of the Lebanese government, Israel could use the group’s recent warning as a pretext to escalate militarily against Lebanon.
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