IDF: Northern calm in danger

The calm that has prevailed on Israel's northern border in the wake of the 2006 Second Lebanon War "could explode at any minute," a senior IDF official told the Times Online Tuesday.

Hezbollah has stockpiled up to 40,000 rockets and is training its members to use missiles capable of hitting Tel Aviv as well as Israeli aircraft, IDF Northern Command Deputy Chief Alon Friedman told The Times.

IDF escorts religious Jews near border (Photo: AFP)

The current stability on the Israel-Lebanon border was “in danger," he was quoted as saying.

The Times also obtained surveillance footage showing Hezbollah men trying to salvage arms from a site of a recent explosion in south Lebanon.

Nasrallah's threats

About two weeks ago, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said his group will not hesitate to attack Tel Aviv should Israel strike the movement's stronghold in Beirut.

Speaking at a closed-door session, Nasrallah reportedly said that his organization has created a new equation vis-à-vis Israel: "Tel Aviv in response to an attack on the Dahiya," Hezbollah's stronghold south of the Lebanese capital.

In a meeting with Lebanese exiles currently visiting the country, Nasrallah was said to estimate that Israel will not remain inactive, but rather, initiate an offensive move "sometime between the end of this year and next spring." His comments were reported by Lebanese television channel al-Jadid.