Nir Barkat, Israel’s Minister of Economy, warned Israel’s enemies, mainly Iran will pay dearly if they decide to take a military approach against Israel. Barkat’s remarks come as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is pounding away at the terrorist infrastructure in northern Gaza. Before they started the bombing, Israel issued numerous warnings to civilians to leave the area and it has been reported that Hamas has stopped them from fleeing, hoping to use them as human shields.
The fear is that as Israel prepares to implement their ground offensive that Iran-backed Hezbollah will attack Israel from the North. This would not be repeat of the failed Israeli attack since this time they would be forced out into the open where Israel’s air force can inflict some real damage without the fear of killing a large number of civilians. Hezbollah is located in Lebanon and they could take a real hit if Hezbollah attacks. they won’t attack without the blessing of Iran and that could expand the war greatly.
Speaking with The Mail on Sunday, Barkat, who said last week that Israel’s military has been given the “green light” to attack any country involved in the attack on Israel. This means they can launch an attack on anyone without waiting for approval by the government. Retribution for any attacks would mean an immediate response by Israeli forces. He said that not only will Israel “eliminate Hezbollah”, Israel will “actually target Iran” and will “wipe them out.”
Barkat said:
“The plan of Iran is to attack Israel on all fronts. If we find they intend to target Israel, we will not just retaliate to those fronts, but we will go to the head of the snake, which is Iran. The Ayatollahs in Iran are not going to sleep good at night, we are going to make sure they pay a heavy price if, God forbid, they open the northern front.”
He said that Hezbollah and Lebanon will pay “a heavy price” if they dare join the war, “similar to what Hamas is going to pay,” but warned “that’s not enough.”
“The very clear message is that we are going to be going after the heads of Iran as well. When will we do that? When we decide,” he added. “Israel has a very clear message to our enemies. We are saying to them, look what’s happening in Gaza – you are going to get the same treatment if you attack us. We are going to wipe you off the face of the Earth.’”
Israel has called as man reservists as they feel they need. They have held up their ground offensive while they reinforce their northern border. Since they are limited in the number of planes that can be used in Gaza, their northern defensives should have quite a few jets with which to strike Hezbollah terrorists. This war could expand quickly as Muslims across the Middle East is calling for repeated attacks against Israel.
