Israel cmdr. confirms Hezbollah’s power

Battleground potentials of the Lebanese resistance movement, Hezbollah, will be a major challenge for Israeli Army in any new attack on Lebanon, a senior Israeli commander says.

Major General Sami Turgeman said on Thursday that the movement poses a “military challenge” to the forces, the Lebanese news portal Naharnet reported.

The general overlooks the Israeli Army’s 36th Armor Division — the largest in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) — which is stationed in the Golan Heights.

Lebanon and Israel are technically at war since 1967, when the Israeli military occupied the Golan Heights in the Lebanese territory alongside vast expanses of other Arab land.

Israel also initiated offensives against Lebanon in 2000 and 2006, but was heavily defeated by the resistance and forced to withdraw on both occasions. About 1,200 Lebanese, most of whom civilians, died in the 2006 offensives.

Lebanese officials, consider Hezbollah, which is also an active participant on the Lebanese political arena, an element of national defense. They insist on the group keeping to its armed firepower despite Israeli pressures aimed at its disarmament.

Hezbollah’s Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah has repeatedly warned that the group will not hesitate to retaliate, should Israel launch a new offensive against Lebanon.

The Israeli general, who overlooks the 36th Armor Division, the largest in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which is stationed in the Golan Heights, said the troops were taking in part in expanded training sessions to be prepared in case of possible confrontation with Hezbollah.