Warn Hezbollah Make No Mistakes, Israeli Defense Minister: We Will Send Lebanon Back to the Stone Age

JAKARTA - Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned that the Hezbollah Group and its leader Hasan Nasrallah have made no mistakes, as friction with the Iran-backed group escalated across the border.

Minister Gallant said this during a visit to Mount Dov near the Israel-Lebanon border on Tuesday.

"Make no mistake. We do not want war. But we are ready to protect our civilians, soldiers and sovereignty," Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in a statement, addressed to Hezbollah.

According to Gallant, Israel will not hesitate "to deploy all our forces then strike Hezbollah and Lebanese targets if necessary."

"If, God forbid, escalation or confrontation erupts here, we will send Lebanon back to the Stone Age," Gallant said as quoted by Haaretz.

Israel-Hezbollah have frequently used rhetoric since their second war ended in 2006. The past has become sharper, however, since roadside bombings in Israel in March were blamed on Hezbollah, although the group denies this.

In the last few weeks, there have been exchanges of fire between a Hezbollah group and Israeli troops along the border between the two countries.

Last month, Hezbollah released a video of an Israeli military chief of staff near the Lebanese border without a helmet or protective vest, prompting criticism of the top brass appearing in the video, including from within the Israeli military.

A week earlier, an Israeli border surveillance camera had been removed from the border fence by members of Hezbollah, according to video footage of the incident from the Lebanese side of the border.

Tensions have also escalated between Israel and Hezbollah in recent months, after the organization set up two military tents in Israeli-controlled territory on the border with Lebanon.

The tents were set up on the Israeli side of the blue line that separates the two countries, but remained on the Lebanese side of the border fence.

In addition, a longstanding dispute between Israel and Lebanon for years over the small village of Ghajar near the border is heating up. Israel has built a wall around half the villages on Lebanese territory, prompting condemnation from Hezbollah, which accuses Israel of moves to annex the site.