Yoav Gallant, the Defense Minister of Israel, said that the army must be prepared at the northern front against any action by Lebanese Iran-backed militia Hezbollah which he stated was “10 times stronger” than the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
According to Israeli public broadcaster KAN, Gallant made his statement at a closed meeting with senior government officials. “Hezbollah is 10 times stronger than Hamas.”
The Israeli Defense Minister asked the government to finalize transferring military equipment to the northern front – the border region with Lebanon.
KAN reported, “As part of the preparations for the expansion of fighting in the northern sector, the IDF has been working in recent days to establish a field hospital in the Galilee region that will be able to receive casualties in the event of an escalation.”
Hezbollah has fired dozens of anti-tank guided missiles, rockets, and mortars at Israeli military positions and Israeli towns since the Hamas attack on October 7, while also sending gunmen to infiltrate into Israel, Tel Aviv said.
According to the Pentagon’s readout, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in a call with Gallant called for “Hezbollah to cease its attacks from southern Lebanon into Israel.”
Austin, additionally, had emphasized during his visit to Israel last week, “I ordered additional assets to the region to bolster deterrence, and again, the message that we would send to any country or group thinking to take advantage of this situation and widen the conflict: Don’t.”
Earlier this week, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) warned Hezbollah of a “deadly” response if it continued to carry out attacks against Israel.
Hezbollah had said last week that international and regional calls for the group to stay out of the Hamas-Israel conflict will not be heeded.
As cited by Hezbollah’s TV Al Manar, deputy chief Naim Qassem said, “The behind-the-scenes calls with us by great powers, Arab countries, envoys of the United Nations, directly and indirectly telling us not to interfere will have no effect.”
