Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Helgi Halevi said on Wednesday that “we have a lot of capabilities that we have not yet activated” regarding a possible war with Hezbollah, following the electronics explosion in Lebanon.
Israel has not officially claimed responsibility for the explosions on Tuesday of thousands of pagers and hundreds of walkie-talkies carried by Hezbollah officials and terrorists, which killed about 20 people, injured more than 3,000 and destroyed Hezbollah's communications systems.
Halevi made the remarks as he approved battle plans for both offensive and defensive operations in what the IDF calls the “Northern Battlefield” between Lebanon and northern Israel.
In a translated statement provided by the IDF via Telegram, Halevi was quoted as saying:
We are committed to creating a safe environment for our residents to return. [of northern Israel] “To return the hostages to their homes and communities with a high level of security. We are ready to do whatever is necessary to make these things happen. During almost a year of war, we have been fighting in Gaza with two main goals, the dismantling of Hamas and the return of the hostages. We have achieved a lot, but we still have to go further.
We still have a lot of capabilities that we have not yet activated. We have seen some of them here, but it seems to me that we are ready and have these plans in the future. The principle is that every time we work on one stage, the next two stages are already ready to go. At each stage, the cost to Hezbollah must be high.
It is not clear what “capabilities” Halevi was referring to, but the message has been interpreted as a warning that Israel plans to use other unconventional tactics against Hezbollah.
Joel B. Pollack is executive editor of Breitbart News. Breitbart News Sunday It airs Sundays from 7:00pm-10:00pm ET (4:00pm-7:00pm PT) on SiriusXM Patriot. He is the author of the following books: Agenda: What President Trump Should Do in His First 100 Daysavailable for pre-order on Amazon. He also The Trump Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump's Presidencyavailable now on Audible. He is the recipient of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter. Joel Pollack.
