Gallant warns Lebanese

(JNS) — “Hezbollah and Iran have taken you, the residents of Lebanon, as their hostages.”

This was the message Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant sent to the Land of the Cedars on Thursday.

Gallant, a former IDF major-general, published the message in Arabic, saying, “Hezbollah and Iran have taken you as hostages for their narrow interests. If Hezbollah does not cease its aggression in the north, Israel will enter into a harsh war.”

The minister in his missive called the 2006 Second Lebanon War an “adventure” that Hezbollah undertook. Between 1,200 and 1,300 Lebanese died in the 2006 war, with another 1,100 injured and more than 100,000 people were displaced from their homes.

A survey by the Direct Polls Institute published on Thursday evening shows that most of the Israeli public believes that the IDF should carry out a preemptive strike in light of the threats from Iran and Hezbollah. 

According to the survey, 60 percent of the public believes a preemptive strike should be launched against both enemies, while 32 percent think it is better to wait for an attack and respond afterwards. An additional 8 percent have no opinion on the matter.

Since Oct. 8, Hezbollah has been firing rockets, missiles and explosive-laden drones at Israel on a near-daily basis.

Twenty-two Israelis have been killed by these attacks, while Israel is estimated to have killed more than 400 members of Hezbollah, including the terrorist group’s top “military” commander Fuad Shukr.

Israel has been on high alert and expecting a significant retaliation for both his death and the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Both Iran and Hezbollah have vowed to retaliate with a “severe” response against Israel for the elimination of the arch-terrorists.

Shukr was killed in response to an attack on the Druze town of Majdal Shams in which Hezbollah fired a rocket that killed 12 children who were playing soccer.