By its own admission, Israel’s IDF conducted numerous airstrikes on Syrian targets in recent years.
Last week, Lebanon’s Al-Manar television reported that an Israeli strike near Damascus International Airport killed Hezbollah fighter Ali Kamel Mohsen and four others.
In response, Hezbollah MP Sheikh Hassan Ezzedine said “war between us and this enemy (Israel) will continue, and this path that the martyrs have taken with their blood will continue.”
Along with Iranian military advisors and Russian air support, Hezbollah fighters are involved in aiding Syria combat US aggression, including its ISIS, al-Nusra and other jihadist proxies.
Israeli airstrikes in Syria killed Hezbollah fighters before. Its leadership vowed to retaliate against Israeli aggression when any of its personnel are harmed.
For days, tensions along the Lebanese/Israeli border remain heightened.
On Monday, Lebanese Al-Manar television reported the following:
Israel’s IDF “claim(ed) that “Hezbollah attempted to carry out an infiltration operation and that the Israeli army frustrated the attack and killed a number of its fighters,” adding:
“Hezbollah then issued a statement to refute the Israeli claims and stress that the Israeli army unilaterally opened fire for fear of Hezbollah response to the killing of the martyr Ali Mohsen in the latest raid on Syria.”
Netanyahu regime claims otherwise “are absolutely untrue and aim at fabricating fake victories.”
“The Islamic Resistance did not engage in any clash, nor did it open fire during (the border) incident.”
Gunfire was “from (the Israeli) side only…”
Israeli aggression “will not remain unanswered.”
Last weekend, Lebanon’s military reported that numerous Israeli surveillance drones entered the country’s airspace illegally.
On Monday, explosions and gunfire were heard along the Lebanese/Israeli border — in illegally occupied Sheba’a Farms.
From its 1982 preemptive war on Lebanon until May 2000, Israeli illegally occupied the country’s south to the Litani River.
It still illegally occupies the Ghajar Lebanese village bordering Golan, along with Sheba’a Farms, a 14-square mile water-rich area near Syria’s Golan.
In 1982, Oded Yinon’s document titled “A Strategy for Israel in the Nineteen Eighties” laid out a divide and conquer strategy.
It was and remains all about wanting the Middle East map redrawn in cahoots with the US so both countries can dominate the region.
For Israeli hegemonic plans to succeed, it believes Arab states and Iran must be partitioned along ethnic and sectarian lines, transformed into client states.
Israel’s preemptive June 1967 Six Day War followed the plan — illegally seizing the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Syria’s Golan and Lebanese territory.
Both countries have the misfortune of bordering the Jewish state with designs on expanding into their territory.
Israel preemptively attacked Lebanon in 1978, 1982, 1993, 1996, and 2006, along with subsequent Jewish state initiated cross-border incidents.
Does Netanyahu have another war in mind, a possible wag the dog scenario to distract attention from his ongoing corruption trial and days of street protests calling for him to resign?
According to deputy Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem,
“(t)he atmosphere does not indicate a war…in the next few months,” adding:
“There is no change of rules of engagement and the deterrent equation with Israel exists and we are not planning to change it.”
Last summer after two Hezbollah fighters were killed by the IDF in Syria, its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah vowed to respond defensively if Israeli attacks strike its forces again.
On Monday, Southfront reported that Israel deployed “M109 Doher howitzers” along its border with Lebanon, adding:
Gideon infantry and Golani brigade troops were also sent to the border area in Occupied Golan.
The Netanyahu regime warned that it holds Lebanon’s government responsible “for all actions emanating from” the country — ignoring its own hostile cross-border actions.
If further clashes with Hezbollah fighters occur, retaliation will be highly likely, risking more war in this tinder box part of the world.
Israel and the US partner in each each other’s preemptive wars.
Last week, US Joint Chiefs chairman General Mark Milley met with his IDF counterpart General Aviv Kochavi, former IDF chief/current Netanyahu regime war minister Benny Gantz, and other Israeli officials on a visit to an airbase in country to coordinate regional strategy ahead.
Netanyahu was involved by videoconference.
The Jerusalem Post asked if beleaguered Netanyahu seeks US support for striking Iran before US November elections while the most pro-Israel ever Trump regime remains in office.
AP News reported that Milley visited Israel at a time of heightened Middle East tensions — punctuated by the Israeli/Lebanon border incident that could escalate to something more serious.
While Israeli war with Lebanon is unlikely, beleaguered Netanyahu might try anything to stay in power and out of prison.
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Award-winning author Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at [email protected]. He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG)
His new book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.”
http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html
Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.
