IDF spokesman: Hezbollah is Lebanon's destroyer

IDF Spokesman Brigadier-General Yoav Mordechai took a jab at Hezbollah Tuesday, hours after an explosion rocked one of the terrorist group's strongholds in southern Beirut.

In a video message posted on his Facebook page ahead of the month of Ramadan, Mordechai said, "This year we learned that Hezbollah is not Lebanon's defender but its destroyer."

Speaking in Arabic, he added: "In the wake of ongoing threats and developments, the IDF will prepare to drive off any threat. I hope this month will bear good tidings for the people of the region; that bloodshed on the northern border will stop and that Syria will celebrate new elections."

Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah (Photo: Reuters)

Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon also commented on the current situation in the Middle East. Speaking at a memorial for former IDF Chief of Staff Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, he said: "Everything is changing around us.

"What is unfolding in Lebanon, Syria and Egypt is of historic proportion. These processes need to be studied in depth. Egypt is witnessing a revolution and a counter-revolution and things won't stop there. The situation warrants both military and political alertness."

Ya'alon described the Syrian civil war as a struggle between Shiites and Sunnis. "We don’t interfere, it's not about us but it's an historic event of great significance which will not end any time soon."

He further added, "The situation offers more than threats. There are opportunities and hopefully we will be able to take advantage of them. But we must practice humility. We need to navigate a reality which bears many unsolved problems."

The minister noted that Israel must live with the challenges with the understanding it cannot solve them on the short term "including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict which will keep us busy for some time."

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