(IsraelNN.com) Israel will hold Iranian proxy militia Hizbullah and the state of Lebanon responsible for any attempt to assassinate Israelis abroad, and it will retaliate, Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said Sunday.
An Egyptian newspaper Saturday reported that three terrorists linked to Al Qaeda were arrested before they carried out a plot to assassinate Israel's ambassador to Cairo, Shalom Cohen. But Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said that Hizbulah was "certainly" the group behind the plot. Speaking on Voice of Israel government radio, Ayalon warned: "I have one message here: If, God forbid, one hair falls off the head of any Israeli representative abroad, or of even an Israeli who is not an official representative, tourists, etc., we will consider Hizbullah responsible. "The outcome, for Hizbullah, will, I think, be of the utmost gravity," Ayalon said. "For Lebanon too."
"It is important ... to relay this warning to Lebanon, which is responsible for Hizbullah -- that they will suffer the consequences if they carry out assassinations of Israelis," the minister from the Israel Our Home party added.
Ayalon did not give a direct answer when he was asked how Israel knows that Hizbullah and not Al Qaeda was behind the plot. "I don't want to get into the intelligence or operational issues here,” he said, “but certainly there is both an ideological connection and a professional connection of sorts here."
more here:
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/132805
also this:
Israel warned on Monday that the Lebanese government as a whole would be blamed for any attack from its territory if Hizbullah is part of the new government.
"If Hizbullah joins the government it will be clear that the Lebanese government will be held responsible for any attack coming from its territory against Israel," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
"The moment they are part of the government, the sovereign Lebanese government is responsible. I hope we will not need such responses," he told journalists during a visit to southern Israel.
There has been an escalating war of words in recent days between Israel and Hizbullah, which fought a 34-day war in 2006 that killed more than 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in Lebanon and 160 Israelis, most of them soldiers.
Lebanese prime-minister designate Saad Hariri has yet to form a government two months after a parliamentary election won by the Western-backed coalition that defeated a Hizbullah-led alliance.(AFP)
http://www.naharnet.com/domino/tn/NewsDesk.nsf/getstory?openform&BA8B65B0558815BDC225760E0030B343
and via DEBKAfile, news of mysterious meetings:
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=6212
DEBKAfile reports the Hamas delegation headed by Dr. Mahmoud a-Zahar exited Gaza through the Rafah crossing Saturday Aug. 8. Egyptian intelligence officers escorted them on their journey to Cairo for urgent consultations on an undisclosed subject. The Hamas leaders may proceed next to Damascus to confer with politburo chief Khaled Meshaal.
Friday, prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his security cabinet of six ministers were briefed on Middle East developments at a special session. DEBKAfile's military sources report that an unusually variety of security officials attended the meeting.
They included the chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Gaby Ashkenazi, military intelligence chief Brig. Amos Yadlin, Mossad director Meir Dagan, Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin, OC Southern Command Brig. Yoav Galant and several more senior officers.
No comments:
Post a Comment