The Israeli military on Monday foiled a cross border attack by Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group along the Lebanon border. A group of armed terrorists crossed into Israel and were spotted by Israeli soldiers, who repelled the intruders, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed.
The latest attack comes as Israel mobilizes troops amid growing hostile activity by Hezbollah along its northern border with Syria and Lebanon, territories where the Iranian-backed terrorist group has its presence. The Lebanon-based Hezbollah is now freely operating in Syria, where it moved in to fight for Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad on the behest of Iran.
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has vowed to escalate an armed conflict with Israel after the IDF recently took out one of his operatives linked to a cross border attack on its troops. Hezbollah’s increasing belligerence coincides with Iran’s growing threats to the United States and its allies. The Shia-Islamist group, created in the 1980s by Iranian operatives in Lebanon, is regarded at the foreign terrorist arm of the Tehran regime.
The new website Times of Israel reported the latest Hezbollah attack:
The Israel Defense Forces said it thwarted a Hezbollah attack in the Mount Dov area on Monday afternoon, opening fire at a number of fighters from the terror group that entered Israeli territory. (…)According to (IDF Spokesperson Hidai) Zilberman, shortly after 3 p.m., the Hezbollah cell entered a few meters into Israeli territory, heading toward a military position on Mount Dov, before troops opened fire with machine guns, tanks and artillery cannons, driving them back into Lebanese territory.Zilberman said the Hezbollah members were spotted by soldiers operating powerful security cameras shortly before they crossed the border and were tracked the entire time they were inside Israeli territory. Israeli defense officials later said the men were armed.
Israel will “not allow Iran to entrench militarily on our border,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned following the attack. “We view the attempt to infiltrate our territory with great severity. Hezbollah and Lebanon bear full responsibility for this incident and for any attack that comes out of Lebanese territory against Israel,” he said in a statement.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz reiterated Israel’s resolve to “protect the lives of its soldiers and its civilians” against Iranian and Hezbollah terror attacks.
“Iran and its proxies are still trying to strangle our northern border in an Iranian chokehold,” he said. “The IDF and our security forces will continue to block Iranian entrenchment, as well as the transfer of destabilizing weapons, and precision weapon systems.”
Hezbollah’s build-up suggests that it is looking to escalate a large-scale conflict with Israel. Besides cross border attacks aimed at Israeli soldiers and civilians, the terrorist group has invested heavily in digging terror tunnels along the border. The largest of these tunnels, sealed by the IDF last May, was made for the “specific purpose of allowing thousands of Hezbollah terrorists to stage an infiltration attack on military and civilian targets,” the Times of Israel reported in May 2019.
With billions of dollars poured in by Tehran, Hezbollah has become a big terrorist player with bases of operation in several countries. Besides operating in Lebanon and Syria, the terrorist group has declared war on the U.S. troops in Iraq. In January, Hezbollah chief Nasrallah pledged his group’s support for an Iran-led jihad against America.
[Cover image via YouTube]
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