(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — Israeli army Chief of Staff Benny Gantz said in an interview with Israeli media that Israel would carry out a military operation in Lebanon similar to the one conducted in Gaza, which resulted in high civilian causalities.
“(Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah) sees that the Israeli society didn’t break apart and was ready to pay the price (in Gaza), and that we know to do in Lebanon what we did in Gaza,” Gantz told newspaper “Yedioth Aharonoth” in his first remarks since the end of Israel’s war on Gaza in August.”The threat facing Israel from the Lebanon is much larger than that posed by Gaza,” he said.
While the Arab world is busy with wars and fights against terrorism, the common enemy remains Israel, says Gantz.“Neither Hezbollah nor Hamas currently want to start a war with us. Our enemies face other challenges at the moment, but the instability is such that I can’t promise that we won’t be fighting in Lebanon in 2015.”
In the same interview, Gantz defended the Israeli army’s performance during the latest aggression on Gaza.
During the 50-day war, Israel launched several thousand airstrikes and unleashed artillery barrages at what it said were Hamas-linked targets in Gaza, flattening entire neighborhoods. Hamas fired thousands of rockets and mortar shells at Israeli communities during the fighting.
More than 2,100 Palestinians and 72 people on the Israeli side were killed. Israel and Hamas signed a cease-fire on August 26.