Top general says Israel ready for war

A top Israeli general has claimed that the army is prepared for a new confrontation amid Tel Aviv’s ongoing threats of waging another regional war.

“Our greatest fear stems from Hezbollah’s patterns of operation,” Israel’s Northern Command Chief General Gadi Eisenkot said Sunday, according to Ynet.

“We can deter countries and organizations from operating, but we can’t deter countries and organizations from growing stronger, and therefore we are prepared for an all-out war within several hours.”

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

Earlier in the year, Israeli minister without portfolio Yossi Peled warned that the region was heading toward “a new confrontation” with Lebanon.

In late April, Israeli President Shimon Peres accused Syria of supplying Hezbollah with Russian-made Scud missiles.

In a secret message to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Tel Aviv reportedly alleged that Hezbollah might launch an attack against Israel using the projectiles. It also threatened to engage Syria in a war if such raid materialized.

However, Beirut, Damascus and Hezbollah have dismissed the claim, with Syrian and Lebanese officials warning the Israeli move was directed at launching a new regional war.

Hezbollah’s Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem, meanwhile, cautioned on Wednesday that there would be serious consequences if Israel launched another war on Lebanon.