Israel: defence minister threatens to send Lebanon back to Stone Age

Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant threatened on Tuesday to send Lebanon back to “the Stone Age” in a war with Hezbollah, local media have reported.

“I hear our enemies boasting about weapons they are developing,” said Gallant. “For any such development, we have an even better response — by air, by sea and on land and through other means of attack and defence.”

The minister made his comments while visiting the Northern Command of the Israeli occupation army as part of his participation in the two-week-long “Firm Hand” military exercise. During the visit, said the Jerusalem Post, he conducted a situation assessment with senior officials from the army and said, “Our troops are excellent.”

If Hezbollah “makes a mistake” and “starts a war against Israel,” warned Gallant, Israel will send Lebanon back to “the Stone Age.”

In closing, he added: “We will know how to defend the citizens of Israel and how to strike our enemies with a decisive blow if, heaven forbid, they initiate a war with us.”

His comments came a day after the Chief-of-Staff of the Israel Defence Forces, General Herzi Halevi, said that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah might miscalculate his understanding of Israel and accidentally drag both sides into a larger conflict.

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