A senior officer in the Northern Command today, Thursday, sent a firm message to Hezbollah terrorists, referring to the possibility that a Hezbollah force would try to infiltrate an Israeli community.
The senior officer said that since Hezbollah recognizes its inferiority to the IDF, its men will try to carry out an attack on an Israeli community near the border.
“I believe that they can have excellent achievements in raids,” he said. "But if Hezbollah believes that this force will be able to enter, do damage and return to Lebanon - as far as we are concerned that won’t happen - it will not be able to return. We will kill them all," he said.
The senior officer added that there had been a tremendous improvement in the quantity and quality of intelligence information available to the IDF about Hezbollah.
"Our intelligence on Hezbollah has grown significantly, and what I know about Hezbollah compared to a few years ago has improved dramatically," he claimed. "It's a difference. Because of intelligence, it will be hard for them to surprise us. It allows the IDF to take risks because it assesses that they will not respond."
"Despite this, we are preparing for the attempt to surprise us on the border with Lebanon," the senior officer revealed. "If Hezbollah drops large forces into the villages and tries to go from there and hurt us, it will also be an opportunity for us to hit them."
Meanwhile, the IDF cleared for publication some of the details of the extensive engineering effort carried out in recent years on the northern border, as part of preparations for possible fighting in the area. The barrier is similar to the barrier being built in the Gaza Strip.
Currently, forces are completing the first section of the barrier, about 11 kilometers (6.8 miles) in length. In addition, work to uncover strategic positions is taking place to allow for a more efficient system of lookout, locating, and identifying in the area. The strategic objective of the engineering barrier is to delay Hezbollah and help defend northern residents.
Northern Command reports three points on the route of the barrier at which there is not agreement on the exact location of the border, and negotiations are underway with the Lebanese and UNIFIL on the matter. There is concern in the command that as a result of the escalation in the pace of construction of the barrier, friction and perhaps even a local confrontation with the Lebanese army or Hezbollah will develop.