Top Israeli brass say not seeking confrontation with Hezbollah

Israeli military officials say they don’t want a confrontation with the Hezbollah resistance movement, amid tensions near the border fence between Lebanon and the Israeli-Occupied Territories, reports say.

The Palestinian Sama news agency reported that the overview presented by senior military officials to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a meeting on Sunday said “We don’t need to enter into a confrontation that we don’t need or want at the time.”

Israel’s Walla website also reported the meeting made it clear that “there is no benefit to running towards a confrontation” with Hezbollah.

Over the meeting, Netanyahu met the minister of war, Yoav Gallant, and the heads of the military, Mossad spy agency, and Shin Bet, as well as numerous other top officials to discuss the situation near the fence separating Lebanon from the Occupied Territories.

Netanyahu’s office said “The prime minister accepted the recommendations and courses of action” proposed by the Israeli military, without giving details on what was discussed at the meeting.

According to a correspondent of Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper and Ynet website, the meeting didn’t yield “concrete decisions”, and it only saw the premier approving a number of working methods.

The journalist also cited senior officials with Israeli “security apparatuses” as saying that “We are not running towards a confrontation in the north.”

Tensions come as Israel claims a tent, which is erected in southern Lebanon, has been set up by Hezbollah beyond the UN Blue Line – the de-facto border between Lebanon and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

During the Sunday meeting, the Israeli army even expressed its support for “talks mediated by an international party” to solve the dispute, according to Israeli TV channel Kan 11.

Kan 11 cited informed sources as saying the meeting “approved a string of events and reactions that were designed on the basis that Israel doesn’t want to be drawn into the conflict”, and that “the situation could develop into this direction.”