Hezbollah ‘playing a very dangerous game’ and could drag Lebanon into a war, says Israel

Tel Aviv, Oct 22 (IANS) Hezbollah is “playing a very dangerous game” and could drag Lebanon “into a war that it will gain nothing from,” an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson has said, the media reported.

“Is the Lebanese state really willing to jeopardise what is left of Lebanese prosperity and Lebanese sovereignty for the sake of terrorists in Gaza?” Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus wrote on X on Sunday.

Conricus said Hezbollah has been attacking Israeli positions near the northern border between Israel and Lebanon and “escalating the situation,” CNN reported.

There have been both civilian and military casualties as a result of Hezbollah fire, he added.

The IDF has seen instances where Hezbollah has “intentionally fired in near proximity to UN positions,” Conricus said, possibly to “tempt (the IDF) to respond to that fire and perhaps harming UN peacekeepers”.

Hezbollah fires missiles and rockets from civilian buildings, Conricus said, and usually shoots from within a populated area, CNN reported.

The Syrian state news agency has reported air strikes against both Damascus and Aleppo airports in the early hours of Sunday, CNN reported.

“At approximately 5:25 a.m. today, the Israeli enemy simultaneously carried out an air aggression with bursts of missiles from the direction of the Mediterranean Sea, west of Latakia, and from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan, targeting the international airports of Damascus and Aleppo,” the agency reported, citing a military source.

It said damage to the runways at both airports had put them out of service and that air traffic was being diverted to the city of Latakia.

–IANS

san/khz