JERUSALEM, Israel – Israel's Security Cabinet met in an underground command center Thursday night to discuss the ongoing threat from Iran and Hezbollah. The terror group is warning of "destruction" if Israel attacks.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant delivered a rare warning Thursday directly to the Lebanese people in Arabic.
Gallant posted on X, “The State of Israel seeks peace, prosperity, and stability on both sides of the northern border. Therefore, we will not allow the Hezbollah militia to destabilize the border and the region. If Hezbollah continues its aggression, Israel will fight it, with all its might.”
The defense minister reminded the Lebanese how the Second Lebanon War in 2006 was a disaster. He quoted an Arabic saying: "He who plays with fire may expect destruction.”
Yigal Carmon, founder of MEMRI (Middle East Media Research Institute), tells CBN News Hezbollah may not want to pay the price of a full-scale war.
“They also want only attrition. But Israel told them no attrition. We go full force against Lebanon. Not only you (Hezbollah), against Lebanon. This is (a) pretty high price to pay," Carmon stated.
Actual combat may not yet have begun, but Gallant insists Iran and Hezbollah are already waging psychological warfare on the Israeli public.
“There is a psychological attempt by the enemy to sow fear, to tell stories, to intimidate," Gallant explained
The New York Times reports Hezbollah will likely strike first in a separate attack before Iran conducts its own retaliation.
The State Department is warning Iran. “It's been the focus of our diplomatic engagements, is we continue to make clear to Iran that they should not escalate this conflict," said spokesman Matthew Miller.
Carmon points out that Israel is projecting a different message from a few months ago.
“Israel behaved unlike before. It said clearly, if you attack us, we go against you full force, no matter what – no matter the position of the American administration. This scares them (Iran's leadership) a lot,” he said.
In a Time Magazine interview, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologized that Israel wasn't able to prevent October 7th, saying, "You always look back and you say, 'Could we have done things that would have prevented it?'"
The prime minister repeated his contention that launching a commission of inquiry into what led to October 7th should wait until the end of the war.
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