Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned the Lebanese government that if the ceasefire with Hezbollah breaks down, “there will be no more exceptions for the state of Lebanon, and Israel will not see a separation between the terrorist group and the country,” the Times of Israel reported.
“We will work hard to ensure that all the agreements in the ceasefire are respected, with maximum reaction and zero tolerance,” Katz said during a visit to the country’s northern border.
“Yesterday was the first test – (Hezbollah) shelled Mount Dov. We responded decisively, and that is what we will do, and we will not allow Hezbollah to return to its old methods, such as the tent that was erected (by Hezbollah on the border several years ago) and was not attacked,” he said.
According to Katz, Lebanon must “authorize the Lebanese army to fulfill its part of the obligations, to keep Hezbollah away from the Litani (River) and to dismantle all the infrastructure.”
“If they do not do this and this whole agreement collapses, then the reality will become crystal clear. First of all, if we go back to war, we will act decisively, we will go deeper, and the most important thing they should know is that there will be no more exceptions for the state of Lebanon.
If until now we made a distinction between the state of Lebanon and Hezbollah, between Beirut as a whole and (its southern suburb, the Hezbollah stronghold of Dahiya, which we hit very hard, now this will no longer be the case,” Katz said.