Netanyahu: Israel will continue to stop weapons transfers to Hezbollah

Netanyahu said Israel will continue to stop weapons shipments to Hezbollah despite objections from Syria and the summoning of Israel’s Ambassador to Russia. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed over the weekend that Israel will continue to act against weapons transfers to the Lebanese terrorist organization Hezbollah, a day after Israel launched strikes on several targets in Syria.

“When we identify attempts to transfer advanced weapons to Hezbollah and we have intelligence and it is operationally possible, we will act to stop it,” said Netanyahu. “That’s how it was yesterday and that’s how we shall continue to act.”

The IDF announced on Friday that it struck several targets in Syria Thursday night, after which Israel’s aerial defense system intercepted rockets fired from Syria.

Syria’s Foreign Ministry wrote letters to the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, as well as the UN Security Council decrying such Israeli strikes as violating international law and Syrian sovereignty.

Meanwhile, Israel’s Ambassador to Russia Gary Koren was summoned on Friday for a meeting with Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister, a day after presenting his credentials to Russian president Vladimir Putin. Although Russia has staunchly stood by the Syrian government in the country’s six-year civil war, Russia has generally avoided summoning Israeli officials after reported Israeli operations in Syria in light of deconfliction mechanisms agreed upon between Israel and Russia in 2015.

By: Jonathan Benedek, World Israel News

HezbollahNetanyahuRussiaSyria