WarSclerotic

Hezbollah will no longer “accept Israel killing its operatives” and it has made up its mind to exact revenge over the recent death of terrorist Samir Kuntar, Lebanese media reported Thursday.

Kuntar was killed on Dec. 19 in an airstrike near Damascus. Hezbollah head Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah has accused Israel of assassinating the infamous terrorist, and vowed that a “painful retaliation will follow.”

The threat prompted Israel to use third-party mediators to warn Nasrallah that any attempt by the Shiite terrorist group to escalate tensions on the Israel-Lebanon border would meet a forceful Israeli response.

According to Lebanese media, Nasrallah met with a German mediator in Beirut several days after Kuntar’s death. The mediator told him that any retaliation by Hezbollah would earn a wide-scale Israeli reaction, perhaps even to the tune of a military campaign in Lebanon.

Nasrallah reportedly replied, “The decision to retaliate over Kuntar’s death has been made, and it’s final. There’s no turning back. The days when Hezbollah was willing to accept the killing of its operatives by Israel are over.”

The Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Manar television quoted Nasrallah as saying, “To us, whatever the consequences and threats, which we don’t fear, we can’t tolerate and forgive those who shed the bloods of our fighters and brothers anywhere in the world.”

The military had no official comment on the report.

Meanwhile, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot toured the northern sector Wednesday, and was briefed by GOC Northern Command Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi on the troops’ deployment given the threats from both Lebanon and Syria.

The military is said to be bracing for a potentially significant terrorist attack on the Israel-Syria border by jihadi radicals, including the Islamic State-affiliated Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade.

According to a military source, other threats include terrorist attacks on strategic points along the border, a threat posed by the al-Qaida-affiliated Nusra Front, which operates in Syria.

The military’s threat assessments include potential border incursions, the use of roadside and car bombs against troops patrolling the border, and projectile fire at both military and civilian targets.

While the IDF remains vigilant, a defense official told Israel Hayom that the terrorist groups in Syria and Lebanon were currently not considering Israel a priority, as they have to dedicate the resources available to them inward. Nevertheless, he said the threat could not be discounted, as these groups, and especially Islamic State, have declared Israel their enemy.