JAKARTA - The Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) promised to continue the campaign against the militant group Hezbollah, while visiting Israeli troops stationed around Beaufort Castle, southern Lebanon on Sunday.
"The IDF will continue to operate decisively to eliminate threats from the Lebanese territory and is ready to switch quickly to offensive operations if the ceasefire is violated," IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir told soldiers during the visit, according to a statement issued by the military, reported Al Arabiya from AFP (6/7).
Israeli forces recently seized the Crusader-era castle and surrounding area, giving the military a strategic foothold it had occupied for nearly two decades.
Israel says it has discovered a network of tunnels under the castle, saying the tunnels were built to give Lebanese militant group Hezbollah fighters a fortified attack center just a few kilometers from Israeli territory.
Israel previously occupied the fortress during its 1982 invasion of Lebanon, after a long battle with Palestinian fighters hiding in the castle's historic underground tunnel labyrinth.
The castle was damaged by heavy bombing in the process.
Israel later used it as one of its main observation posts until its forces withdrew from the country in 2000.
"Our troop activities in Beaufort Ridge and throughout southern Lebanon are carried out in accordance with the framework of the agreement and the mechanisms established under it," Lieutenant General Zamir said on Sunday, referring to the recently US-mediated agreement between Israel and Lebanon aimed at permanently ending hostilities.
However, Lieutenant General Zamir said, "any threat aimed at our forces or Israeli civilians will be immediately dealt with and eliminated."
"The Lebanese Armed Forces are required to fulfill their commitments under the historic agreement that has been signed and to act to cleanse the area of Hizbullah terrorists and terrorist infrastructure," he said.
Hezbollah dragged Lebanon into the Middle East war on March 2 with rocket attacks on Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran's supreme leader in a US-Israeli strike days earlier.
Israel responded with a massive air assault and a ground invasion of southern Lebanon, where its forces now occupy most of the territory near the border.
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