BEIRUT: Hezbollah is seeking to impose new rules of deterrence with Israel, Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said, adding that the party appears to be more confident than Israel had anticipated.
"It’s possible that Hezbollah has accumulated more self-confidence than we thought,” Yaalon said in comments to Israeli newspaper Haaretz Wednesday, in reference to last week's attack on an Israeli patrol in occupied Shebaa that wounded two soldiers.
“Once, the Syrian regime used to activate Hezbollah to strike at us in south Lebanon, without our being able to blame the regime for direct responsibility. Now, Hezbollah is operating the same way on the Golan Heights,” he added, admitting that the latest operation was bold.
He added the incident does not prove that Hezbollah is preparing for an escalation, but hinted that Israel would not hesitate to launch an assault against Lebanon in such a case.
“The incidents with us don’t prove that Hezbollah is planning an escalation. We reacted forcefully. Let Hezbollah decide whether it’s worth its while to escalate.”
Hezbollah said the Oct. 7 attack on an Israeli patrol in occupied Shebaa was in retaliation for the killing of a Hezbollah explosives expert who died while trying to disable Israeli spy devices installed on the party's communication network in south Lebanon.
Israeli planes reportedly detonated the explosives remotely.
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