Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi told a Knesset committee meeting Tuesday that Hezb'allah has more rockets than before the Second Lebanon War and is boosting it's power in South Lebanon ahead of the country's upcoming elections.
"Hezb'allah is secretly bolstering its power south of the Litani River, but UNIFIL's presence is making that task more difficult. Today it has more rockets and long-range ammunition than it did before the Second Lebanon War."
Ashkenazi warned Hezb'allah is still looking to avenge the killing of one of its senior militants Imad Mughniyeh, saying "Hezb'allah has been intimidated and restrained, but it is still planning a response to the death of Imad Mughniyeh." Hezb'allah blames Israel for the assassination, carried out in Damascus last year.
The army chief called the upcoming elections in Lebanon "a fascinating electoral campaign between a radical axis and moderates. This confrontation will determine which direction Lebanon will face, and it is possible it will fall to the radicals.
On the Iranian nuclear threat, Ashkenazi said, "there is currently a dialogue between the United States and Iran, but we don't know at this point if it will bear fruit. The option of dialogue, alongside imposing sanctions, is preferable in our view, but as chief of staff, my obligation is to prepare for every alternative for dealing with this matter, and that is what I'm doing."
Ashkenazi added that Israel and moderate Arab states in the region have a common interest in stopping Tehran's nuclear ambitions. "Iran is very vulnerable from an economic standpoint, and firm pressure and sanctions can influence the Iranian regime to reconsider its nuclear policy."
Police, not IDF soldiers to carry out West Bank evacuations
In his comments Tuesday, Ashkenazi said the job of evacuating West Bank outposts should be delegated to police officers, not IDF soldiers.
"The army is operating according to the government's instructions, but it would be appropriate if supreme efforts were made for police officers, and not soldiers, to be deployed against civilian populations."
The army chief also referred to the situation in the Gaza Strip, saying that during the IDF offensive earlier this year Israel enhanced its deterrent capability and improved the security situation in the south. He said that since the operation Hamas has transformed into a more restrained force, and that rocket fire on Israel's southern communities has dropped dramatically.
"Hamas has an interest in rehabilitating Gaza and breaking the siege. The situation remains unstable, and we cannot say the current reality in the south will continue in the long term and are therefore preparing for any eventuality," he said.
"Other than a few irregular incidents, nothing has been found which even approaches war crimes. All of the forces operated in the way they were expected to. In addition, in greater Gaza there were 1,400 locations designated 'untouchable,' including hospitals, places of worship and UN facilities. Every commander in the field received aerial photographs of these locations," he said, refering to allegations of misconduct by soldiers during Operation Cast Lead, adding that nine of them had been struck by accident.
On Gilad Shalit, the IDF soldier held captive in Gaza for nearly three years, Ashkenazi said simply, "I have no good news to reveal."
(haaretz)
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