Defense Minister: Israel would want to avoid a bloody conflict with Hezbollah
May 18, Jerusalem According to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, his nation would rather stay out of a bloody conflict with Hezbollah, an armed organization based in Lebanon.
Speaking with fighter soldiers Friday near Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, Gallant stated that Israel intends to use all available means to ensure the safe return of the people living in the northern region to their homes, “because we know that war has prices for everyone.” This was reported by the Xinhua news agency.
“A long round of hard war would be a catastrophe for Lebanon and Hezbollah, but there would also be a price for us and we prefer to avoid that,” he said.
But Gallant pointed out that “we have to be ready for everything, because anything can happen. If we come to the conclusion that action is necessary, we will do it only out of obligation to our countrymen.”
The Israeli military claimed in announcements earlier on Friday that it had targeted Hezbollah’s southern Lebanon bases, rockets, and air defense systems.
A local head of the organization was reportedly killed in the Israeli attacks, according to sources from Lebanon.
Hezbollah maintained its strikes on Friday, launching many drones and missiles into northern Israel at the same time.
In recent days, the Israeli military and Hezbollah have intensified their firefight. Hezbollah has been launching new kinds of rockets into Israel, and it just carried out the most extensive drone strike into Israeli territory since October.
