JNS
Vowing "zero tolerance" for violations, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that if the truce collapses "there will no longer be an exemption for the state of Lebanon."
Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Beirut on Tuesday that should the Nov. 27 ceasefire collapse, Jerusalem's response would potentially go beyond just targeting Hezbollah.
Speaking during a visit to Israel's northern border, Katz said that Israel would "work with all our might" to enforce the terms of the truce, vowing "maximum response and zero tolerance" with regard to violations, according to Reuters.
“Yesterday was the first test, [Hezbollah] shooting at Mount Dov," he said, adding, "We reacted strongly and this is exactly what we will do."
The Israeli Air Force struck Hezbollah targets across Lebanon on Monday night in response to the Iranian proxy’s firing of two mortar shells across the border hours earlier, in violation of the Nov. 27 ceasefire.
"We will not allow Hezbollah to return to the old methods they had, such as the tent that was set up [by Hezbollah on the border several years ago] and not attacked,” Katz continued.
He called on the Lebanese government to ensure that the Lebanese Armed Forces fulfilled Beirut's obligation under the truce to keep Hezbollah forces north of the Litani River and dismantle the Iranian proxy force's infrastructure.
Should it fail to do so, he continued, the agreement will collapse and "then the reality will be very clear."
If the deal collapses, "The most important thing they need to know is that there will no longer be an exemption for the state of Lebanon,” he emphasized.
“If until now we have distinguished between the state of Lebanon and Hezbollah, and between Beirut as a whole and [its southern suburb, the Hezbollah stronghold of] Dahiyeh, which we have struck very hard, this will no longer be [the case],” he said.
