BEIRUT, September 17. /TASS/. Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has ruled out the possibility of Israel launching a ground operation against Islamic resistance formations in the country’s southern parts.
"Israel won’t dare to invade Lebanon for fear of heavy losses," the politician said in an interview with the Al-Joumhouria newspaper. "Our enemy knows he will pay dearly if he tries to move forward by land, so I rule out that he will resort to such a scenario."
According to the speaker, the Lebanese are used to constant threats from the Israeli side. "However, if only one missile launched from Yemen toward Tel Aviv on September 15 caused such a stir, what happens when missiles from southern Lebanon rain down on occupied Palestine [northern Israel]?" he asked.
As Berri said, the missile from the Houthis, supporters of Yemen’s rebel Ansar Allah (Houthi) movement, which traveled 2,040 km before reaching Israel, should push Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "to reconsider his calculations before he decides on any reckless adventure in Lebanon."
At the same time, Berri expects that Israel is likely to intensify strikes on Lebanese settlements in the coming days and that these attacks "will become more intense and widespread."
On September 16, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant said that his country had no choice but to switch to a military action against the Shiite Hezbollah movement, whose militants are constantly shelling Israel northern settlements, in order to stabilize the situation on the border with Lebanon.