Israel has affirmed that Lebanon was responsible for the incident that unfolded on Tuesday at dawn, involving Israeli shelling of southern Lebanon after a rocket attack from Lebanon that targeted Occupied Territories.
“I say this sharply and clearly: We will not allow harm to Israel‘s sovereignty and security,” Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said in a speech hours after the attacks.
“Whoever tries to harm us will pay a painful price,” he warned.
“Lebanon is on the verge of collapse, like any country in which Iran bases itself,” he then said, referring to the devastating economic, political, and social crises Lebanon is going through.
Bennett noted that the Lebanese people have been “taken hostage” by Iran and Hezbollah. “This is unfortunate,” he added, “but we will not accept a spillover of the situation in Lebanon into Israel.”
Bennett’s remarks come after Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said that Lebanon was responsible for the two rockets fired from its southern region because it “allows terrorists to operate within its territory.”
Gantz also threatened that Israel would act against and respond to any threats, “at the relevant time and place.”
In the early hours of Tuesday, the Israeli military fired 12 shells into Lebanon in response to two rockets that had been launched from a southern Lebanese area.
