The head of Lebanon’s Hezbollah terrorist organization warned Israel on Tuesday after the conclusion of a three-day IDF military drill that had clearly been directed at the Iranian proxy.
IDF ‘Galilee Rose’ Military Drill Ends With Message to Hezbollah
The drill came in response to an attack by Hezbollah on February 3, when the terror group opened anti-aircraft fire at an Israeli Heron drone flying over southern Lebanon, attempting to down the aircraft.
Speaking from an undisclosed location, Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah said, “Israel’s home front needs to know that if there is a war with Hezbollah it will see things it has not seen since the establishment of Israel,” according to a report by Israel’s Channel 13 television news team. “We don’t seek a fight with Israel but if it starts a war we will fight.
“If Israel bombs cities in Lebanon, we’ll bomb cities in Israel, and if it bombs villages in Lebanon, we’ll bomb towns in Israel.
“If the IDF bombs our military targets we can also attack Israel’s military targets,” Nasrallah said.
“No one can guarantee that a few days of combat between us and Israel won’t lead to a wider war. We’re following [events] and weighing our decisions,” he said. “We won’t accept something that will put our country in danger.”
The Israeli military exercise involved an unprecedented level of intensity, beginning with a surprise callup of conscripted and reserve forces and the simulation of a large-scale war against Hezbollah involving mock strikes on some 3,000 targets in a 24-hour period.
“During [the exercise], intense fighting was simulated, along with offensive operations, scenarios involving defending the country’s airspace, command and control operations, precise planning and wide-scale, powerful strikes. In addition, strikes on thousands of targets and the launching of many weapons were practiced to simulate war on the northern front,” the IDF said in its statement.
The drill, called “Galilee Rose,” included dozens of fighter jets, cargo planes, helicopters and drones and also involved the simulation of Hezbollah attacks on Israel with cruise missiles and other advanced munitions as well as rocket fire by “standard” Grad and other rockets at both military and civilian targets – as has been the case in past conflicts with Hezbollah, a senior IAF officer told reporters.