Hizbullah-Israel Coming War Would Change South into Parking Lot
Time Magazine reported in its latest edition that war between Israel and Hizbullah is a “matter of time’ and it would change south Lebanon into a mere parking lot.
“The inconclusive results for Israel of the month-long war it fought in the summer of 2006 against Lebanon’s militant Shiite Hizbullah meant that another confrontation was probably just a matter of time. And with the February 12 assassination in Damascus of a senior Hizbullah commander continuing to roil the waters of the Middle East, that much-anticipated second round could be drawing nearer,” the magazine noted.
“Hizbullah has vowed revenge for the car bomb killing of Imad Mughniyeh, and Israel is taking the threat seriously. Israel has placed its army on alert and reinforced its presence along the northern border with Lebanon. Patriot anti-missile batteries have been deployed near Haifa, Israel’s second-largest city, 40 kilometers south of the Lebanese border. Even airlines flying into Israel have been instructed to ensure that all passengers are seated half an hour before landing to protect against a 9/11-style hijacking and aerial attack,” it added.
It noted that Hizbullah “also is on alert. In south Lebanon, young men normally living and working in Beirut during the weekdays were back in their home villages last week, visible indication that Hizbullah has placed its cadres on standby,”
It quoted a local Hizbullah unit commander who fought in the 2006 war as saying “We are ready for another war and it will come.”
He said that the Shiite fighters would be on the offensive in the next war, hinting at taking the battle into Israel itself.
“We weren’t expecting the last war and we fought only to defend our land, but next time you will see a very different kind of fighting,” he said.
“These guys are very ready for war,” says Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, a Hizballuh expert with the Carnegie Endowment’s Middle East Center in Beirut.
“But not everyone in south Lebanon is ready for another round with Israel. Many residents of the battle-scarred south are still repairing the damage of the 2006 war and the notion of another conflict striking the region is not welcomed, even among some Hizbullah supporters,” Time wrote.
“God bless Nasrallah and the resistance. They have fought and sacrificed for Lebanon. But we are tired of wars and just want to raise our children in peace,” said Hassan, a shopkeeper in a mainly Shiite border village.
“Indeed, a Western diplomat in Beirut predicted that Israel will turn south Lebanon into a parking lot in the next war, hoping to drive a wedge between Lebanese Shiites and Hizbullah,” Time concluded.
