Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's office responded Saturday to media reports that Minister-without-Portfolio Yossi Peled (Likud) said a military conflict between Israel and Lebanon is "inevitable."
"Without a doubt, we are heading for another round [of battle with Hizbullah] in the north," said Peled at a Saturday event in the Negev city of Beer Sheva. "No one knows when, but it's clear that it will happen."
Peled was the former General of Israel's Northern Command.
The Prime Minister's office issued a response contradicting Peled's remark. "Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is making it clear that the State of Israel has no desire for any conflict with Lebanon. The face of Israel is set toward peace with her neighbors, according to the Prime Minister."
At the event, Peled added that "Israel's primary goal is to ensure the existence of the Jewish state forever," he said. "Lebanon is the only country in the region in which there is a military organization that is not part of the state. It seems we are heading toward a confrontation in the north, but no one can tell when it will happen".
Also Saturday, The Washington Post reported that the powerful Lebanese terror organization, Hizbullah, had moved long-range missile launching pads into areas of northern Lebanon and the Bekaa valley, despite a UN presence in those areas.
Hizbullah has been armed and funded in the past by Iran under the leadership of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The IDF reports that the terror group has Iranian-made Fajr missiles in their arsenal, the same kind of rockets used against Israel 3 and a half years ago in the Second Lebanon War.