Israel to target civilians areas in future war against Hezbollah

Israel has revealed that it will bomb civilian areas of South Lebanon in any future war with Hezbollah, a senior Israeli official warned.

The intelligence official showed the New York Times satellite channel images of what he claimed were southern Lebanese villages that pinpoint specific Hezbollah military positions among civilian buildings such as command posts, rocket-launching sites and bunker entrances.

In a report published Wednesday, the official is reported to have said “the civilians are living in a military compound”.

“We will hit Hezbollah hard, while making every effort to limit civilian casualties as much as we can … [but] we do not intend to stand by helplessly in the face of rocket attacks,” he said.

The official, who could not be named for security reasons, claimed that every one of the nearly 200 Shia villages in South Lebanon are “military compounds, but one could walk in their streets without seeing anything.”

According to the official, the small hilltop village of Mhaibib alone contains 25 separate facilities and nearby Shaqra includes nearly 400 military sites.

Hezbollah says its military capabilities have progressed since its war with Israel in 2006.

In 2006, Israel killed 1,200 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, while Hezbollah killed 160 Israeli soldiers who crossed inside Lebanese territory, according to United Nations data.

The civilian death toll prompted the United Nations at the time to pass a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire and to disarm Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

According to security sources in the region, Israel has repeatedly bombed missile shipments bound from Syria to Hezbollah during the past two years.

The Israeli official called for a larger foreign intervention to address what he described as the promotion of arms in a manner that threatens to renew clashes.

“I know that on the first day of the next war the international community will stand and say: ‘Stop this war’. I have a different suggestion. Why should we wait for the first day of the war? Why not avoid this war?” he said.