F-16 fighter jet (Archive photo)
Photo: AP
IAF bombards Lebanon - with leaflets
Israel sends Lebanese residents a message: Hizbullah actions threaten you
Israel Air Force aircraft hovered over the skies of south Lebanon in the early hours of Wednesday and dropped leaflets over communities in the region in an attempt to enlist public opinion against Hizbullah.
The Shiite group launched attacks at an IDF post on Mount Dov on Monday, and later fired rockets on northern Israeli communities, prompting clashes with soldiers and IAF raids in south Lebanon. Some 12 Israelis were injured and five Hizbullah terrorists were killed in the clashes.
The leaflets dispersed over Lebanon, including the western Shiite suburbs of the capital Beirut, read: “To Lebanon’s citizens: Who is lying to you? Who is sending your sons to a fight they are not ready for? Who wants to return to destruction? Who is a tool for the Iranian and Syrian masters? Hizbullah is hurting Lebanon. The state of Israel will continue to defend its people and sovereignty.”
The IDF used this strategy in the Gaza Strip over the last five years of violence to draw Gazans’ attention that attacks launched by terror groups against Israel are bound to hurt innocent Palestinian civilians.
‘Lebanese public must understand Hizbullah danger’
In the wake of the skirmishes on the northern border and the Lebanese government’s ensuing turn to the United Nations to demand Israel halt its aerial offensive, the IDF top brass decided to cash in on the events to remind Lebanese citizens that if Hizbullah continues to play with fire, innocent civilians will get hurt.
“It is important that the public in south Lebanon understands the significance of Hizbullah’s operations. The IDF cannot stands with its arms crossed in the face of the group’s offensive actions and any future response is likely to affect residents. They have to understand this, and the leaflets stimulate a reflection on this issue,” a military official told Ynet.
The attack on Mount Dov was intended to divert the IDF’s attention from a simultaneous attempt to kidnap IDF soldiers positioned in a village on the border. The attack was foiled by alert soldiers who spotted an elite Hizbullah unit entering the village on motorcycles and opened fire, killing four terrorists.
