Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel was prepared for any scenario after a cross-border clash with Lebanon’s Hezbollah but neither side seemed eager for another conflict, Trend reports citing Reuters.
Israel’s military said anti-tank missiles from Lebanon targeted an army base and vehicles and that it responded with fire into southern Lebanon, after a week of growing tension raised fears of a new war with long-time enemy Hezbollah.
Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement said its fighters destroyed an Israeli military vehicle, killing and wounding those inside. Israel’s military said there were no casualties.
Netanyahu, whose re-election campaign ahead of a poll less than three weeks away could have been complicated by war in the north, signaled business as usual after the hostilities erupted along he frontier with Lebanon.
The Israeli leader kept to his regular schedule, commenting on the security situation, in Hebrew only, at the start of a meeting with Honduras’ visiting president, and did not take questions from reporters.
“We were attacked by a few anti-tank missiles. We responded with 100 shells, aerial fire and various measures. We are in consultations about what’s to come,” Netanyahu said.
“I have given instructions to be prepared for any scenario, and we will decide on what’s next depending on how things develop,” he said, almost dismissively, in a departure from his usually much tougher language toward Israel’s enemies.
“I can make an important announcement - we have no casualties, no wounded, not even a scratch.”
The two sides fought a one-month war in 2006 after Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid.
Israel has been on alert for a confrontation with Hezbollah for the past week after two drones crashed in Beirut’s southern suburbs. Security officials in the region have described the target as linked to precision-guided missile projects.