Israel intends to respond to any Hezbollah attack in the north of the country with a counter-attack on the suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut, the Israeli defence minister has warned.
The southern suburbs of Beirut, known as Dahiyeh, are considered a stronghold of the Hezbollah militia, which is allied with Iran. "The same applies to Dahiyeh as to the towns in northern Israel," Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Monday, according to his office.
"The Israeli army will continue its operations in Lebanon against the terrorist organization Hezbollah," Katz added. "We firmly reject Iran's threats." Any Iranian attempt to establish a link between Lebanon and Iran and to attack Israel would be "met with a very harsh response," he said.
On Sunday, the Israeli military attacked targets in the suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut in response to Hezbollah rocket attacks on northern Israel. Iran subsequently fired missiles at Israel for the first time in two months, triggering a flare-up in the conflict.
On Monday afternoon, the Iranian military leadership then declared its attacks against Israel to be over.
However, Iran’s military headquarters, Khatam al-Anbiya, warned that should the hostilities continue, including Israel’s attacks in southern Lebanon, "tougher and more devastating measures than before" would be taken.
