Israeli Officer Warns of Severe Destruction in Future War with Hizbullah
A senior Israeli military officer has warned that the Jewish state would launch a ferocious war on Lebanon if Hizbullah retaliated to an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.
“Despite the inevitable international outcry, Israel would be left with no choice but to lay waste to swathes of southern Lebanon because Hizbullah has entrenched itself so deeply within the civilian population,” the officer told The Telegraph.
He urged the Lebanese people not to be drawn into a war for which they, rather than Iran, would bear the brunt of Israel's anger. "The situation in Lebanon after this war will be horrible," the officer said.
"They will have to think about whether they want it or not. I hope that Iran will not push them into a war that Iran will not pay the price for but that Lebanon will," he added.
The officer, who is a senior commander on Israel's northern border with Syria and Lebanon, told The Telegraph that the Jewish state would not be as cautious as it was during the 2006 war with Hizbullah.
No such mistake would be made in the next conflict, he said, pointing to a satellite map of the southern town of Khiam where Hizbullah has allegedly taken over several buildings for military purposes.
"In these villages where Hizbullah has infrastructure I will guess that civilians will not have houses to come back to after the war," he said.
"The Lebanese government has to take this into consideration. Many of the villages in southern Lebanon will be destroyed. Unfortunate, but we will have no other solution. The day after (we attack) the village will be something that it will take 10 years to rebuild."
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