Former Lebanese PM Hariri slams Hezbollah for Israel border attack

Saad Hariri condemns Shi'ite terror group for "disrupting national efforts in the fight against terrorism and extremism."

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Former Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri (photo credit: REUTERS)
Former Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Former Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri on Wednesday condemned as "unacceptable" Hezbollah's border attack on Israel the day before.
The Shi'ite Lebanese terror group claimed responsibility for two bombs that detonated in the Har Dov region along the border with Lebanon, with one device injuring two IDF soldiers.
Lebanese media cited Hariri, an ardent rival of Hezbollah, as slamming the organization for its attack on Israeli targets, saying it contributes to "disrupting national efforts in the fight against terrorism and extremism."
He also criticized what he said was the tendency by many in Lebanon to overlook the actions of Hezbollah.
“These sides are acknowledging that the party has the exclusive right to set up camps in Lebanon and wage wars without the consent of the state, government, and army,” the Lebanese newspaper Al-Nahar's website quoted Hariri as saying.
The IDF responded to the bombs planted by Hezbollah by shelling two of the group's targets in southern Lebanon.
The army suspects that the incident is directly related to Sunday’s attempted infiltration from Lebanon, which occurred in the same region.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opened up the cabinet meeting Tuesday on the budget by addressing the incident along the northern border, and thanking the soldiers there for foiling an attack.
Hours after the incident, Hezbollah took the unusual step of officially claiming responsibility for the border bombings.
In a statement read out on Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV station and released on the Internet, the organization said the Hassan Haider Brigade had planted the bombs – apparently a reference to the name of a Hezbollah member who was reportedly killed in September while seeking to dismantle an Israeli listening device in southern Lebanon’s Sidon region.
Yaakov Lappin contributed to this report.