Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned this Saturday that Israel will resume its military operations in Lebanese territory if Hezbollah breaches the current ceasefire, indirectly confirming Israeli press reports about an order from him to halt attacks in Lebanon.
According to an official statement from the Prime Minister's office, cited by the newspaper 'The Times of Israel', Netanyahu "has ordered the IDF --Israel Defense Forces-- to respond forcefully to any Hezbollah attack and to act to eliminate threats against our forces."
The Israeli Executive has also reiterated that it will maintain the deployment of its troops in southern Lebanon "for as long as necessary to defend the northern border" of the country. "If Hezbollah attacks us again, we will attack forcefully once more," the Government has stressed.
The same note emphasizes that, in the last two days, "the IDF has attacked 300 terrorist targets and eliminated about 100 terrorists in response to Hezbollah's attacks in the last two days."
On the other hand, Channel 12 of Israeli television reported this Saturday that Netanyahu and his Defense Minister, Israel Katz, have given the order to "cease fire" in southern Lebanon, a measure adopted "in coordination between the political leadership and the United States." The channel further specifies that Israel has no intention of withdrawing its forces from the southern part of the neighboring country.