Tel Aviv sent a letter to Damascus through the United Nations, whereby it stressed that the Israeli shelling which covered the sky of the occupied Syrian Golan Heights and the major military drills conducted by the Israeli army for long hours are not an act of war and are not meant to suddenly strike Syria.            

In this context, Israel reassured that the operations conducted in the Golan are defensive actions to repel any Syrian attack, noting that the 39th anniversary of the October war is drawing near and Israel wants to make sure that the surprise of the war will not happen again.              

The Israeli reassurance did not convince the residents of Israeli northern border towns, who expressed their fear towards the intensive movement of Israeli military vehicles, and that of the crowds of soldiers. The residents are also concerned that the Jewish holidays will be cancelled for the army during this period.                

In this context, the statements of the Brigadier General Hertzi Halevy increased their fears, as he declared that his army is preparing for a third war against Lebanon and he directly threatened Hezbollah and the Lebanese government that the next war will bring havoc to Lebanon twice as July war has brought.              

This as the Israeli army completed its show of force to promote its maritime intelligence activity by introducing a new spying plane which accompanies the warships in their intelligence activity aimed at preventing any attack on Israeli maritime targets from taking place.

For full LBCI report, please click on the link above.