Lebanese news: IAF runs mock Lebanon raids

Lebanese news agency: IAF jets reach as far as Litani in mock attacks on several towns and villages.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
IAF jet 224.88 (photo credit: AP [file])
IAF jet 224.88
(photo credit: AP [file])
IAF jets were carrying out mock air strikes on Lebanese targets, a Lebanese news agency reported Tuesday. According to the report, IAF warplanes were circling the skies over towns and villages in southern Lebanon, including Tyre, Bint Jbail and Marjayoun. Israel's jets reached deep into Lebanon's airspace all the way up to the Litani River, the agency claimed. The report added that during the night, IAF jets were flying over other Lebanese towns. The IDF responded laconically to the report, saying only that the military does not give out details of its operations. On Monday, the Lebanese daily Al Akhbar reported that Hizbullah held a large-scale exercise south of the Litani River that included thousands of gunmen, under the personal supervision of the organization's leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah. According to the report, the maneuvers, which included all military and logistic units of Hizbullah, were meant to convey a warning to Israel. The paper quoted sources in the organization saying that the organization's top echelon adopted steps to "deter the enemy from undertaking any further Lebanese adventures." The exercise lasted for three days and was reportedly the largest in Hizbullah's history. And on Friday the previous week, Israel Radio quoted Arab media as saying the Lebanese army had raised its level of alert due to abnormal IAF activity over its territory. According to the reports, Israeli aircraft carried out dummy runs over southern Lebanon and the Lebanese army fired at them in response. The reports further stated that the UN had reinforced peacekeeper forces along the border and had appealed to Israel for calm.