Israel: We Will Drive Iran Out of Syria, Continue Operations in Lebanon

As the Israeli army's engineering operations along the northern border continue to "discover and destroy Hezbollah's infiltration tunnels," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated on Sunday, December 9, that his country is "successfully driving Iran out of Syria and advancing sanctions against Hezbollah and Iran." According to Israeli media, Netanyahu, during a Likud ministers' meeting, added that their work "is still ongoing." He stated, "Our operations to neutralize the precise rocket plans in Lebanon and Hezbollah's tunnels continue, and while we are successful in our actions against Hezbollah and Iran, we currently have no interest in facing conflict on Palestinian fronts, but if necessary, we are prepared to conduct more operations in Gaza than before, and the cabinet has received a report (from the army) regarding readiness for potential military operations in Gaza." The Israeli Prime Minister announced that his government is in contact with various countries to increase sanctions against Hezbollah. Netanyahu also mentioned in his government meeting on Sunday about the "Northern Shield" operation, which began on Tuesday, December 4, that he has discussed this with the Russian leader and that Israeli and Russian military delegations will soon meet to set a date for his meeting with Vladimir Putin. Netanyahu stated, "I told Putin that our policy in confronting Iran in Syria continues; we are acting against precise weapons in Lebanon and completing the destruction of tunnel threats." The Kremlin confirmed in a statement the phone conversation on Saturday, December 16, between the Israeli Prime Minister and Vladimir Putin to discuss the Israeli army's operations in the north of the country. According to the Kremlin's statement, in this phone conversation initiated by Netanyahu, Mr. Putin emphasized the importance of maintaining stability in the region and adhering to UN Security Council Resolution 1701. Meanwhile, Yuval Steinitz, Israel's energy minister, said in an interview with the Ynet television network on Sunday that Hassan Nasrallah and Sheikh Naim Qassem, the Secretary-General of Hezbollah and his deputy, have always remained targets for Israeli assassination attempts. This Likud party member and close associate of the Prime Minister advised Hassan Nasrallah to keep his forces "silent" against the Israeli army's operations. Since Sheikh Naim Qassem, Nasrallah's deputy, stated in his latest interview that Hezbollah's rockets are within range of all of Israel, including Tel Aviv, Yuval Steinitz said, "We have been aware of this threat for 7-8 years; this is the situation we are facing; the repetition of this threat does not scare us, and we are trying to prevent their rockets from becoming more precise while simultaneously strengthening our defense." Steinitz also mentioned that the number of Hezbollah's precise rockets does not exceed "a few dozen." Netanyahu also stated last Thursday, for the first time, contradicting some previous statements by Israeli officials, that Hezbollah has only a few dozen precise rockets and that Israel has "succeeded in preventing Hezbollah from gaining further access to precision rockets." Yuval Steinitz, in his Sunday interview with Ynet, also stated that his country has had comprehensive operations over the past two to three years to counter Iran's military establishment in Syria and to prevent the precision rocket project in Syria and Lebanon, which has not been unsuccessful, and Iran has not been able to achieve its goal of turning its air and naval bases in Syria into a serious military threat against us, and Hezbollah has also failed to convert its rocket arsenal into precision rockets, and Israel is now taking away Hezbollah's other weapon, which has been tunnel digging. This Israeli official, in response to the question of how close his country is to a broad military confrontation with Hezbollah in the continuation of the "Northern Shield" operation, said, "Nothing is predictable yet; at any moment, fire could break out, and we could find ourselves in an all-out battle, but my assessment is that this operation is proceeding quietly because we are not taking risks, although the army is prepared... but I promise you that Israel will prevail, and Hezbollah, and the country of Lebanon that hosts this terrorist group, will pay the necessary price... It is true that Israel is prepared to go all the way this time." Israel Katz, the Israeli information minister, also stated last Thursday that his country is prepared to enter a war in Lebanon following the "Northern Shield" operation. On the other hand, Sheikh Naim Qassem, Hassan Nasrallah's deputy, in an interview published on Sunday, stated, "Today, the internal front of the Zionist regime is threatened up to Tel Aviv in the event of war, and there is no point in the occupied territories that is out of range of Hezbollah's missiles." Sheikh Qassem, in an interview with "Al-Wifaq," an Arabic-language newspaper of the Islamic Republic News Agency, added that the Israelis "do not tolerate such a level of threat in their disputes; for this reason, they have no motivation for war in Lebanon; because the deterrent rules that Hezbollah has established against Israel have created many difficulties for the Zionist regime's (Israel's) preemptive action to start a war against Lebanon." Naim Qassem, who was in Tehran two weeks ago at the invitation of Iranian leaders, did not directly refer to the recent operations of the Israeli army but mentioned the military confrontation last month between the Israeli army and Hamas in Gaza, stating, "The Palestinian resistance has managed to establish a new equation that, God willing, will continue." The Israeli army announced on Saturday that it had informed UNIFIL, the UN peacekeepers stationed in southern Lebanon, about the discovery of the second tunnel in the "Northern Shield" operation and will take UNIFIL officers to visit it; UNIFIL had previously confirmed the existence of the first tunnel. The Israeli army stated on Saturday that it had fired at "three suspicious individuals who were likely Hezbollah terrorists" across the border, but the Lebanese army stated in a statement that "the enemy was surprised to see the army patrol in Lebanese territory in thick fog"; no one was killed or injured in this Israeli fire.