Minister: Israel likely to face another conflict with Lebanon

Jerusalem - Yossi Peled, Israeli minister and former general, said Saturday that Israel was on the way to a new armed conflict with the Lebanese militant organization Hezbollah and that it was just a matter of time, Israeli media reported. Yossi Peled, member of the conservative party Likud, talked today in a cultural event in the southern city of Be'er Sheva and answered "yes" when asked about a new possible war with Lebanon in a cultural event held inthis Saturday.

"Yes, I just don't know when, just like no one knew that the Second Lebanon War would break," the minister said.

"The world had failed in its dealing with (Lebanese militant group) Hezbollah, allowing the organization to accumulate more weapons than it had in his possession in 2006," Ha'aretz reported Peled as saying.

"Lebanon is the only country in the world which has a military organization, Hezbollah, that operates independently of the government and is supported by two foreign countries," the minister added.

He clarified that in case of armed conflict Israel would hold "both Lebanon and Syria responsible."

After monitoring the reinforcement of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) on the border with Lebanon, both Syria and Hezbollah are on high alert, the London-based pan-Arab daily al-Sharq al-Awsat reported on Friday.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/305392,minister-israel-likely-to-face-another-conflict-with-lebanon.html.