06/10/2008 It has become evident that the Israeli army has been founding its plans on the necessity of swiftly securing ‘enemy’ territory by ground forces instead of relying on the IAF that proved ineffective during the 2006 war. This new conception led the Israeli military command to engage in large scale and tough maneuvers that in some cases led to the killing of some soldiers. The Israeli military command also put a detailed plan to call up reserves and refill all reserve armories with all sorts of weapons, ammunition and equipment. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak threatened Lebanon with five divisions and he later increased them to eight, however Hezbollah’s firm response was that “Barak’s eight divisions will be destroyed” in the field of battle.
 
Prominent Lebanese journalist Ibrahim al-Amin reiterated Monday Hezbollah’s warning that a "big surprise" awaits Israel should it decide to engage in another conflict with Lebanon.
 
Al-Amin, the editor in chief of the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar, made the comments in a piece published under the headline of "Israel is threatening to destroy Lebanon. What will happen to it during wartime?"
 
Al-Amin, who usually uses reliable sources from within Hezbollah, warned that Israel needs to seriously consider the ramifications of a future attack on Lebanon.
 
He was responding to recent comments by senior Israeli occupation army officers that Israel will use "disproportionate power" in its next conflict with Hezbollah as it did in 2006 Second Lebanon War.
 
"What do they imagine Hezbollah's reaction will be? They actually say it has 40,000 missiles... Are they preparing for things that they have not considered and that others have not considered?" asked Al-Amin.
 
"Who said that Hezbollah does not think about all of the options which the enemy will use, including those which have been mentioned recently?"
 
HAARETZ: HEZBOLLAH-ISRAEL WAR LIKELY TO FLARE SOON
Meanwhile, the Israeli daily Haaretz said that Israel believes that war with Hezbollah could soon flare up as a result of a retaliatory attack by the resistance group to avenge the killing of its top military commander Imad Moghniyeh (Haj Redwan). "Flare up of war is a possible scenario," said Haaretz.
 
It said an Israeli raid is likely to take place in retaliation for the smuggling of anti-aircraft guns to Lebanon, a move described by Israel as a "red line."
 
Amos Harel, Haaretz's military correspondent, said both Israel and Hezbollah, however, have no intention of having "another violent confrontation."
 
Moreover, Haaretz quoted Giora Eiland, Israel’s former head of the National Security Council as saying that Israel had failed in its Second Lebanon War against Lebanon in 2006 and "could fail in the third because it fought the wrong enemy. It fought Hezbollah instead of the state of Lebanon."
 
Eiland saw that "no victory could be achieved against an organization active under the shadow of a state immunized against an Israeli military reaction."
 
He warned Barak that just as the Israeli army is improving, Hezbollah is improving too, “and you can win on a guerilla organization that is building its strongholds beneath villages.”