Israel vows ‘powerful response’ to deadly Hezbollah attack, threatens to hold Lebanon accountable

Israeli minister hints at possible actions against Lebanon, saying Beirut bears responsibility for Hezbollah attacks.

By World Israel News Staff

An Israeli government minister vowed a “powerful” response following a deadly rocket attack by Hezbollah terrorists Wednesday, while hinting at a possible reprisal against the Lebanese government.

One person was killed and eight more injured in a Hezbollah rocket barrage on northern Israel Wednesday.

The rockets, fired from southern Lebanon, struck a building in the northern Israeli city of Tzfat (Safed), and another site in the city.

Hours after the attack, Minister Without Portfolio Benny Gantz (National Unity) addressed a gathering at Yeshivat Hedvata in Gan Yavneh, pledging that Israel would respond to the attack.

“The IDF, through the Northern Command and all formations, has been working for four months to protect the north and push Hezbollah from the borderline,” Gantz said.

Israel, Gantz continued, “is in combat in the north all the time, and this morning we experienced a difficult event for which the response will come soon, and it will be powerful.”

Hinting at a possible expansion of Israeli reprisals in Lebanon, Gantz said that the Lebanese government bears ultimate responsibility for the attacks Hezbollah conducts from Lebanese territory.

“It is important that we be clear – the party responsible for the shooting from Lebanon is not only Hezbollah or the terrorist elements that carry it out, but also the government of Lebanon and the state of Lebanon which allows the shooting from its territory and there is no target or military infrastructure in the area of the north and Lebanon that is not in our sights.

“Also in the future and in whatever arrangement there is, whoever endangers us will be dealt with operationally. We are not ready to return to the reality of October 6, neither in the south nor in the north.”

Wednesday’s attack comes on the heels of a similar rocket attack on Elifelet, a moshav in northern Israel, that left two seriously injured.

The victims include 15-year-old Idan Saada and his mother 47-year-old Heli Saada.