ALL NOT-SO-QUIET IN THE LITANNI FRONT

ALL NOT-SO-QUIET- IN THE NORTHWESTERN FRONT

Pics…frontier with Latanni and med-evac

Hezbollah planted and detonated two bombs in the Har Dov region along the Lebanese-Israeli border on Tuesday, with one device injuring two IDF soldiers, in a significant escalation in the tense north.  A second blast tore through the same area about 30 minutes later, but failed to cause injuries or damages.  The injured soldiers belonged to the Combat Engineering Corps bomb squad unit, which was accompanying Golani Brigade soldiers on patrol in the area.  Both bombs were planted on the Israeli side of the border.

The IDF responded by shelling two Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.  The IDF suspects that the incident is directly related to Sunday's attempted infiltration from Lebanon, which occurred in the same region.  The dominant assessment in the defense establishment at this time is that this is a pinpoint incident which will not escalate into a wider conflict. At the same time, the IDF took a severe view of the attack by the Shi'ite terrorist organization.

"The IDF sees this incident as a gross and violent violation of Israeli sovereignty, and

sees the Lebanese government and Hezbollah as responsible for any attempt to harm Israeli soldiers or civilians," the military said in a statement. "The IDF reserves the right to act in any way, and at any time, to defend the citizens of the state of Israel." Hours after the incident, Hezbollah took the unusual step of officially claiming responsibility for the border bombings.

In a statement read out on Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV station, and released on the internet, the Shi'ite organization said the bombs were planted by the Hassan Haider Brigade, apparently in reference to the name of a Hezbollah member who was reportedly killed in September, while seeking to dismantle an Israeli listening device in the Sidon region of southern Lebanon.

The injured soldiers received initial emergency medical treatment on the spot, before being evacuated by helicopter from the Lebanese border to hospital for further treatment. Magen David Adom officials said they suffered from light injuries to their limbs.

The incident came after IDF soldiers opened fire on a cell trying to infiltrate Israel from Lebanon on Sunday.  An IDF unit dealing with operational security identified the men crossing the border, heading into Israel, on Sunday.  The soldiers opened fire with small arms, apparently hitting one of the infiltrators.  “The cell fled back into Lebanese territory,” the army said.  According to Lebanese media reports, Israeli cross-border fire wounded a Lebanese soldier near Kafr Shuba.

Last month, senior IDF officials said they were preparing for future hostilities with Hezbollah, and that the Lebanese organization has developed new offensive cross-border capabilities alongside its massive arsenal of rockets and missiles.

Hezbollah is planning to send dozens or hundreds of terrorists over the border into Israel in any future war, while targeting the Israeli home front with large numbers of projectiles, in a conflict that could last as long as four months, according to the officer's evaluations.  Hezbollah's focus will be to rain down rockets and missiles on Israel, but it is also planning raids based on lessons it has learned from its intervention in Syria. Such raids could be prevented by a preemptive Israeli ground offensive.

"Hezbollah's confidence is growing, along with its combat experience in Syria. The battlegrounds of Syria have enabled Hezbollah to upgrade its capabilities. Hezbollah plans to send many combatants into Israeli territory near the border and seize it," an officer said in September.  This has prompted Israel to make "dramatic changes" to its border defense plans, he added.

The army has in recent months noted an increase in Hezbollah's overt presence on the Israeli border, including the deployment of openly armed and uniformed operatives.

at this time, the IDF is preparing to fight Hezbollah, which has developed new offensive cross-border capabilities alongside its massive arsenal of rockets and missiles, a senior military source said on Sunday.

Hezbollah plans to send dozens and perhaps hundreds of terrorists into Israel in any war, while targeting the home front with many projectiles, in a conflict that could last as long as four months, according to the officer.

The Shi’ite group’s focus will be to rain rockets and missiles down on Israel, but it also plans raids based on lessons it has learned from its intervention in the Syrian civil war. A preemptive Israeli ground offensive could prevent such raids, he said.

“Hezbollah’s confidence is growing, along with its combat experience in Syria,” the officer said. “The battlegrounds of Syria have enabled Hezbollah to upgrade its capabilities. Hezbollah plans to send many combatants into Israeli territory near the border and seize it.” This has prompted Israel to make “dramatic changes” to its border-defense plans, he added.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu opened up the cabinet meeting Tuesday on the

JUNE 1967/ JERUSALEM IS RE-UNITED

budget by addressing the incident along the northern border, and thanking the soldiers there for foiling an attack. “We proved that we respond with force against any attempt to attack us, whether it is from the South, the North, or any other sector,” Netanyahu said. “We are witness to threats accumulating around us, threats of which the whole world is now aware, and is even dealing with some of them.”

These threats, he said, necessitate investing massively in security, as well as investing heavily in communities along the confrontation borders.  Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon also commented on the attack in the North, saying that "Hezbollah is responsible for planting the explosive devices and setting them off today, and that's why its targets were struck. There is a phenonemon here of a state within a state, and we see the Lebanese government as also being responsible for this incident."