As the Israeli army ended its recent exercises for a possible war with "Hezbollah", saying that the construction of a large security fence along the border with Lebanon was nearing an end, a senior Israeli general claimed on Thursday that "Hezbollah" was controlling both the Lebanese army and state, threatening that the next war would not exclude the country’s armed forces, but would be directed against both parties.
Although the general has confirmed that "Hezbollah" did not intend to fight Israel, noting that the party “lives in a bunker” since the last Israeli war on Lebanon, he stressed that in certain circumstances, “(Hezbollah) may find itself compelled to fight this war, and then it will do so with a major and dangerous force against Israel.”
The general, who asked not to be named and said he was “a senior commander in the northern brigade of the Israeli army”, claimed that "Hezbollah" was in control of the Lebanese army. He said the party “has grown in strength in recent years, especially after its important combat experience in Syria alongside the Syrian regular army forces and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, and then the Russian army.”
The Israeli general was speaking at the conclusion of a training for paratroopers on a war with "Hezbollah", on Thursday, the fourth in a month.
“The distinction we made between "Hezbollah" and Lebanon during the Second Lebanon War (2006) was a mistake,” the officer said. “In the next war we will not make this distinction. We will hit Lebanon and any infrastructure that would contribute to the fighting.”
As for the defense wall Israeli is currently building along the border with Lebanon, he noted that the part of the wall that has been built so far reaches 11 kilometers, with the goal of increasing it to 130 kilometers.
