(CNSNews.com) – Israel is concerned about the likelihood of an attack by Hezbollah – the Shiite terrorist organization based in southern Lebanon – and it has “no doubt” that the long-range rockets used by Hamas terrorists are coming from Iran.
Israel launched surprise air strikes Saturday against Hamas targets in the Gaza strip in response to rocket barrages launched by the Palestinian terrorist organization.
Mark Regev, international spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, told reporters that Israel was worried about the threat posed by Hezbollah on Israel’s northern frontier.
“Yes,” Regev said, responding to a question about the possibility of an attack. “We’re watching the northern border very closely.”
Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Lebanese terrorist organization, stated Sunday that he had ordered his fighters to go on alert, claiming that Israel was engaged in a conspiracy against it.
“I have asked the brothers in the resistance in the south specifically to be present, on alert and cautious because we are facing a criminal enemy and we don't know the magnitude of the conspiracies,” Nasrallah said in a televised address.
Hezbollah controls southern Lebanon and frequently launches terrorist attacks against northern Israeli cities and smaller civilian areas. Like Hamas, the Shiite group is armed and funded by Iran.
Regev also said that it was clear that Hamas was getting its rockets from Iran, saying that there is no doubt the Islamic Republic is supporting the Palestinian terrorists.
“The Iranians are their sole ally," he said. "The Iranians are very active in arming Hamas, in financing Hamas; they have helped them develop their indigenous missile capabilities, they’ve helped them import missiles into the Gaza Strip, they are probably today the most major and important supporter of the Hamas movement.”
“I have no doubt that a lot of the rockets that land in Israel, and the mortar shells and the missiles, are of Iranian origin,” he said.
Regev said that on Christmas Day alone, Hamas launched more than 80 rockets at southern Israeli towns. He said that Hamas’ rocket attacks imperil the lives of 250,000 Israelis, a fact that forced his government to launch the surprise assault.
“Hamas initiated a series of rocket barrages into Israel. Those rocket barrages reached a crescendo on Thursday, on Christmas Day, when unfortunately we had more than 80 rockets, missiles, and mortar shells coming into Israel, targeting our people,” Regev said at a news conference Monday.
“We were forced to defend our people. Some 250,000 Israelis, of them 100,000 children, live in those areas close to the Gaza Strip. (They) have been living in daily terror, in constant fear of an incoming rocket, an incoming mortar shell, an incoming missile.”
“It’s not a reality that anyone can accept,” Regev stated.
Israel would no longer play by Hamas’ rules, Regev said, instead launching air strikes to neutralize the rocket attacks and change the reality on the ground.
“The minute Hamas initiated an escalation, we weren’t going to play this by Hamas’ rules. Israel has responded in force, attacking Hamas’ military installations across the Gaza Strip,” he said.
“Our aim today is to create a reality, a new reality on the ground, a new security environment in which no longer, will hundreds of thousands of Israelis have to live in fear. We want to try to neutralize the threat Hamas poses to our civilian population; that is our goal.”