Katz warns Lebanon that if ceasefire fails Israel won’t limit strikes to Hezbollah

Katz warns Lebanon that if ceasefire fails Israel won’t limit strikes to Hezbollah

Times of Israel is liveblogging Tuesday

Defense Minister Israel Katz, in a warning to the Lebanese government, says that if the ceasefire with Hezbollah collapses, “there will no longer be an exemption for the state of Lebanon,” and Israel will not see a separation between the terror group and the country.

“We will work with all our might to enforce all the understandings of the ceasefire agreement, and we show maximum response and zero tolerance,” Katz says during a visit to the northern border.

“Yesterday was the first test, [Hezbollah] shooting at Mount Dov. We reacted strongly and this is exactly what we will do, and we will not allow Hezbollah to return to the old methods they had, such as the tent that was set up [by Hezbollah on the border several years ago] and not attacked,” he says.

Katz says that Lebanon must “authorize the Lebanese army to enforce their part, to keep Hezbollah away beyond the Litani [River] and to dismantle all the infrastructure.”

“If they don’t do it and this whole agreement collapses then the reality will be very clear. First of all, if we return to war we will act strongly, we will go deeper, and the most important thing they need to know, that there will be no longer be an exemption for the state of Lebanon,” he continues.

“If until now we have distinguished between the state of Lebanon and Hezbollah, and between Beirut as a whole and [its southern suburb, a Hezbollah stronghold] Dahiyeh, which we have struck very hard, this will no longer be [the case],” Katz warns.

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