‘Israel gearing up for attacking Lebanon’

The French official said Israeli sources told him that they have completed their military and civil preparations over the past month and that the infrastructure and the settlements adjacent to the border with Lebanon were now ready to confront the prospect of war at any moment.

He went on to say that the Israeli troops have carried a series of military exercises aimed at ramping up their military capacity and testing the new army units in the Northern Command, which have been rebuilt, on the implementation of plans prepared against Hezbollah as soon as possible.

The French official added that the maneuvers, the latest of which was carried out in February, were based on confronting the advanced and long-range missile networks along with the intense firepower that could threaten Israel’s security.

Israel fought a 33-day war against Hezbollah in the summer of 2006 to destroy the military power of the Lebanese resistance.

Tel Aviv eventually suffered a humiliating defeat and was forced to leave the region without achieving any of its objectives.

The conflict destroyed most of Lebanon’s infrastructure and claimed the lives of more than 1,200 Lebanese — mainly civilians — and about 160 Israelis — mostly soldiers.

Six Israeli warplanes fly over Lebanon

Six Israeli warplanes have penetrated the Lebanese airspace again and flew over parts of the country in flagrant violation of a UN Security Council resolution.

The Israeli aircrafts crossed into Lebanese airspace over the southern border village of Kfar Kila at 9:30 a.m. local time (0630 GMT) on Tuesday and conducted several unwarranted flights above southern Lebanon as well as the capital Beirut, a Press TV correspondent in Beirut cited a statement released by the Lebanese military.

The jets left the Lebanese airspace at 11:05 a.m. local time (0805 GMT) while flying over Alma al-Shaab – a town in southern Lebanon.

On Tuesday, an Israeli reconnaissance aircraft violated Lebanon’s airspace and patrolled the skies above several areas in southern Lebanon, including the village of al-Naqoura and West Bekaa region, located 73 km (45 miles) from the Lebanese capital.

Israel violates Lebanon’s airspace on an almost daily basis, claiming they serve surveillance purposes.

Lebanon’s government, the Hezbollah resistance movement and the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, have repeatedly cited Israel’s aerial surveillance flights over Lebanon as a clear violation of UN Resolution 1701 and the country’s sovereignty.

UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which brokered a ceasefire in the war Israel launched against Lebanon in 2006, calls on the Tel Aviv regime to respect Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

In 2009, Beirut complained to the United Nations about Israeli aircraft violating the airspace over the south of the country.