According to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Iran established a base for terrorist operations at an airport in southern Lebanon’s Qalaat Jabbour mountain range, 12 kilometers from the border with the Jewish state.
Gallant made his remarks at the 22nd World Summit on Counter-Terrorism, held by the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) in Herzliya.
“In the pictures, you can see the Iranian flag flying over the runways, from which the ayatollah regime plans to operate against the citizens of Israel,” he stated. He said that the Israel Defense Forces must “stay attentive and ready, with our eyes set on the binoculars and our fingers on the trigger.
To put it another way, the terrain is Lebanese, the control is Iranian, and the target is Israel.
“If a clash arises, we won’t think twice about using the IDF’s deadly force. He warned that Hezbollah and Lebanon would pay a costly and painful price.
Gallant and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Tehran last month of planning the most current wave of Palestinian terrorism, which resulted in the deaths of three Israelis and a serious injury to one in less than 72 hours in August.
Following a situational assessment at the scene of one of the incidents near Hebron in Judea on August 21, Netanyahu declared, “We are in the midst of a terror onslaught that is being encouraged, directed, and financed by Iran and its proxies.”
Israel’s National Security Council warned its residents to exercise caution when traveling over the impending Jewish holiday season two weeks ago.
In the latest travel advisory, it was said that there was a greater risk of Iranian terrorism in both nearby and distant nations, such as Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey, as well as in those in Africa and Latin America.
In his lecture to the conference in Herzliya on Sunday, Mossad Director David Barnea disclosed that the agency has so far in 2023 thwarted 27 Iranian attempts to kill Israelis and Jews outside the borders of the Jewish state in collaboration with its foreign allies.
The senior Israeli spy also discussed “Iran’s known nuclear weapon ambitions,” urging other nations to “be on high alert and demonstrate unwavering determination to foil these ambitions.
On Monday, National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi told delegates that if Iran enriches uranium to 60% purity, Israel will have “no choice” but to take action.
Hanegbi stated, “Israel would be forced to take action if Iran tries to enrich uranium above 60% and we identify it—and there is no chance that we won’t, that the world would not know it.
“There would not be a choice.”
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