Israel Media Warn of Hizbullah Reaction to Syria Air Strike
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Israeli media on Friday warned that an alleged air strike on a convoy carrying arms from Syria to Hizbullah could set off a chain reaction, and reported troops on high alert in the country's north.
There was still no official Israeli comment on Syrian claims that Israeli warplanes bombed a military site near Damascus on Wednesday or on separate reports that its aircraft struck a weapons convoy along the Syria-Lebanon border.
Newspapers, however, seemed to have little doubt on what had happened or the likely consequences.
"Complete restraint over the long term to Israel's actions could be considered weakness by Hizbullah, so we should expect some form of response, even if not immediately and not necessarily a broad rocket and missile attack on Israel," defense commentator Amos Harel wrote in the left-leaning Haaretz daily.
"The Hizbullah convoy, which according to foreign reports was attacked from the air while traveling from Syria to the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon, laden with explosives, will not be the last," Nahum Barnea wrote in Yediot Aharonot.
"It would seem, from a pessimistic view, that we are on the way to a military confrontation on at least one of the two northern fronts," he added, referring to Israel's borders with Syrian and Lebanon.
The top-selling paper's front page said that the army's northern command had declared a state of high alert, but the military spokesman's office refused to confirm or deny this when asked by Agence France Presse.
The Syrian army said an Israeli strike early on Wednesday targeted a "scientific research center" near Damascus, with local residents telling AFP it was a non-conventional weapons research center.
Israel had frequently warned that if Syria's stockpile of chemical weapons fell into the Hizbullah hands, this would be a casus belli.
But the Jewish state has also raised the alarm over long-range Scud missiles or other advanced weaponry, such as anti-aircraft systems and surface-to-surface missiles, being transferred to Hizbullah.
"Efforts to transfer advanced weaponry to Hizbullah will continue, and will even accelerate as President Bashar Assad's regime continues to erode," wrote Israel Hayom, a free sheet considered close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"On the assumption that Israel will know of this and will take action in the future, domestic pressure will mount in Syria and in Lebanon to respond, and this is liable to set the northern border on fire at any moment," it added.
Damascus has threatened to retaliate for the reported Israeli raid, and Syria's close ally Iran warned the attack would have "grave consequences."
In Israel, Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor declined to comment on Israeli media reports that its embassies were instructed to be alert of threats after Syria's warnings as Syrian-allied Hizbullah has been accused of staging deadly attacks against Israelis abroad in past years.
Israel had positioned an additional "Iron Dome" rocket defense system in northern Israel on Thursday, security officials said, after moving another to the northern city of Haifa earlier this week. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the battery's placement with reporters.
Capt. Eytan Buchman, an Israeli military spokesman, said the military's home front command has not raised its alert level.
01 February 2013, 15:28
35
No middle eastern country should be allowed to have military weapons. None! We only have nuttjobs with testosterone issues that want to prove they're the only ones that are right.
01 February 2013, 15:33
94
Sorry pheonix dude but you have the wrong picture. HA is not some foreign alienated power imposing itself as you are trying to portray it. Yes it does benefit from foreign support but believe me it is still supported by a very large part of the lebanese, inside and outside Lebanon. Dont be fooled by the mainstream media. HA is a Lebanese entity, to serve primarily Lebanese interest and supported by +40% of the Lebanese. Get back to reality!
01 February 2013, 16:07
48
@Chad and Phoenix
Hizbushaitan WAS a Lebanese component for a while, until they decided to take over the control of Lebanon under the orders of iran.
the existing blind support of the shia community comes from false pride that they control the country and they are free to d whatever they want and not pay electricity and so on while the rest of Lebanese pay their dues.
remember all groups before them in Lebanon, they had high support among their communities but once the decision to close shop came, they all suddenly lost support.
01 February 2013, 16:20
65
It is not blind support at all. It is about a real need for protection. HA defends Lebanese interests primarily by providing security through their dissuasive weapons facing an enemy that can do anything, anytime, without justification and in total impunity. Does that mean that HA is flawless and never messed up ? No! But I am afraid there is no viable alternative to HA protection at the moment. Many of us have seen the Israeli bombs landing on our homes and how they are still behaving in Palestine. And we are not willing to get rid of our unique protection because you *think* that Israelis are unlikely to strike/invade us any time soon. Sorry.
01 February 2013, 16:20
34
HA brought all this on Lebanon and we will pay the price dearly. Again, they are not a Lebanese entity but clearly a strategic military outfit (group) trained/armed by Iran. Please don't sell me BS that they are here as a 'resistance' to protect us from Israel. Believe me if HA was not in the picture we would live perfectly in harmony with Israel next door with NO fear of threat or assault from them. They want to be left alone....just like the Lebanese want to be left alone.
And the poor Lebanese people have to endure all this crap!
01 February 2013, 16:58
22
Sorry Chad but if you really want have any kind of effective deterrence against Israel then you start by building a state. A strong state can start with education which leads to great research and development of a defense program from within. Do we not have great minds? Why can't their ideas and vision stay in Lebanon and benefit our country? There is a reason kids are leaving our beloved country and thats because it's one of the most corrupt country in the world. A militia that is stronger than the state and acts above the law is not the answer. We need to build a strong state and that starts with all weapons under the controll of the state and leaders on board for a strong self sufficient state. Not a strong self sufficient party acting as a mini state.
01 February 2013, 19:38
21
@chad
1 -
The path that HA is still following today has been discredited and relegated to the dust bin of history by the Arab Spring. This discarded philosophy was underpinned initially by the notion of Pan Arabism and later modified to Resistance or "Moumana3a" when Pan Arabism proved a failure.
The failure of Pan Arabism gave rise to Islamist Philosophical ascendency. But at the same time, the advent of the Internet and the explosion in information availability and sharing also gave rise to a younger more pragmatic and worldly Arab youth movements who were at the vanguard of the various Arab Springs.
01 February 2013, 19:38
20
@chad
2 -
The Islamists, mainly the Muslim Brotherhood, who had suffered at the hands of the Pan Arabists were the most organized come the Arab Spring and hence were able to hijack the movement that was started by liberal and wordily Arab youths using force in some instances. This however is now being contested from Tunisia to Egypt and history I think will record that the early 21st Arab generation rejected the hegemony of religious philosophies as a replacement for the hegemony of dictatorial philosophies.
While force can and does achieve some successes, force alone can not keep those successes unless buttressed by undivided people behind it. HA may have once enjoyed such support but it no longer does.
01 February 2013, 19:38
20
@chad
3 -
Some may still believe, as you apparently do, that HA is still on the right path. They do so at their own peril because looking around us in Lebanon HA not only lost the support of most Christians - FPMrs claims notwithstanding - but, and even more crucial, has also lost the support of its fellow Sunni coreliogionalists.
HA, and Iran's, arrogant approach in the region is gaining them more enemies by the day. One shudders at the thought of how our fellow Lebanese Shiites will be treated by the rest of the Lebanese should a new destructive engagement with Israel ensue this time. The Sunnis of Lebanon are still smarting from the events of May 8, 2008 and have not forgotten or forgiven the arrogance displayed at that time by HA.
01 February 2013, 19:38
20
@chad
4 -
It is only through consolidating the Lebanese state and taking care of our current young and future generations by placing high value on education and respect for the authority of none corrupt state that we have any hope at a lasting victory against Israel and stability at home. Any other approach is akin to patching a huge injury with a small band aid.
It appears that the majority of Christians and Sunni Lebanese have finally internalized the lessons of the past. One fervently hopes that the Shiites of our beloved Lebanon will soon come around to the same realization for the sake of this small country we call Lebanon.
01 February 2013, 20:34
12
@LebanonFirst - of course we need to develop education and research! Who said the contrary? But dont you need a safe country first ? To keep the "bright minds" you are talking about inside Leb? And yes I agree an entity above the state cannot be the answer in the long term, obviously! But HA has become what it is by necessity, by the need of its people to survive and defend their land. When the root cause disappears or when the state can take up that role then there wont be any need for HA.
01 February 2013, 20:35
22
@Phoenix - I disagree with you that Lebanon interests are undermined in their strategic relations with Syria&Iran. I dont say it's without risk but I think we - Lebanese- have benefited the most from this synergy. Without all this logistic support I wonder how much of Lebanon would be still under Israeli occupation today.
I agree we shouldn't stay in this state of confrontation for ever. But to make this transition we need to create the conditions..starting with a government we can trust, not one that was stabbing his own people from behind in the middle of a raging war..a government where we can still find Israeli spies not later than this week..
01 February 2013, 16:10
58
Phoenix FARSI BSThrower is living in a la la land and utmost denial. He and similar followers are still frozen in time and follow the chants/raves of religious extremists. Their kind has dwindled and soon to be a page out of history books.
01 February 2013, 16:46
06
Please stop insulting Shia, they are separate from HA mercenary terrorist thugs.
01 February 2013, 17:38
23
Phoenix- your posts are always a pleasure to read. I wish 1% of our politicians had your demeanor. That way at least we can say we are moving in the right direction. Thank you for giving us hope that when the same old names of the past are gone, our country can finally start to move forward.
01 February 2013, 19:05
00
Hezbollah is a stooge to the interest of Iran. Iran plans are the colonization of the ME. The Shia already feel entitled to free electricity and many other goodies. They are having a footprint way bigger than their numbers. The worst part is they are looking for the day they will impose their will on everybody else. This will not happen.
01 February 2013, 19:19
11
The point being made is that HA is not a government entity. If hte weapons were being transferred to the LA Lebanon would have a much stronger complaint here. Mybe that's the course for HA -- have the weapons transfered to a govt army, and the govt can then transfer it where it chooses,
03 February 2013, 14:53
00
Lebanon is for Lebanese & by that I mean those who are still believers that it is their final country it is their destination. It is not a transient station, a bus stop if you want, to other fancy dreams of their own. We Lebanese are lots of minorities living here & for the longest tie the oral constitution provided us with ' Stability' for a many years.. We ALL neeed each other to realize that to love peacefully & all prosper we should abandon the 'Force' mentality! I have no enemies but Ignorance & arrogance. When push comes to shove, I definitely would side with an educated enemy than an arrogant, ignorant one. Sorry all HA lovers, Iran with their Crazy man on top, declaring to the whole world that 'Holocaust' NEVER happened tells me he is a delusional!! No to Syria, Iran or its proxies HA & all the rest!! yes to a stable Lebanon trying to come back to life & prosper in the middle of this JUNGLE called the Arab World!
