Report: Concerns mount that Hezbollah, Lebanese army could cooperate against Israel
Channel 10 quotes defense sources as saying they believe that the cell which tried to infiltrate from Lebanon intended to carry out a terror attack on Israeli territory.
By JPOST.COM STAFFLebanese army soldiers patrol on their armoured vehicle the Sunni Muslim border town of Arsal.(photo credit: REUTERS)
A day after IDF soldiers opened fire on a cell trying to infiltrate Israel from Lebanon, concerns are mounting among the defense establishment over the possibility of the Lebanese army and Hezbollah operatives cooperating against Israel, Channel 10 reported Monday.In the incident in question, soldiers opened fire on men they identified crossing the border, hitting one of them. The men then fled back into Lebanese territory.According to Lebanese accounts of the incident, Israeli cross-border fire injured a Lebanese soldier.Channel 10 quoted defense sources as saying they believe that the cell intended to carry out a terror attack on Israeli territory.A senior military source said last month that, although a war is unlikely at this time, the IDF is preparing to fight Hezbollah, which has developed new offensive cross-border capabilities alongside its massive arsenal of rockets and missiles.Hezbollah plans to send dozens and perhaps hundreds of terrorists into Israel in any war, while targeting the home front with many projectiles, in a conflict that could last as long as four months, according to the officer.The Shi’ite group’s focus will be to rain rockets and missiles down on Israel, but it also plans raids based on lessons it has learned from its intervention in the Syrian civil war. A preemptive Israeli ground offensive could prevent such raids, he said.“Hezbollah’s confidence is growing, along with its combat experience in Syria,” the officer said. “The battlegrounds of Syria have enabled Hezbollah to upgrade its capabilities. Hezbollah plans to send many combatants into Israeli territory near the border and seize it.” This has prompted Israel to make “dramatic changes” to its border-defense plans, he added.Yaakov Lappin contributed to this report.
