Ashkenazi: “Israel” may confront Hizbullah again

Source: Al-Manar TV, 21-2-2007
"Israeli" occupation forces Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi said Wednesday that "Israel" may have to confront Hizbullah to halt the group`s attempts to rearm after last summer`s war in Lebanon.
"We see there smuggling and other things to bring weapons. We are following this and we apparently have to deal with this," Ashkenazi said. Ashkenazi made the comments while observing a military exercise on the Golan Heights. But Defense Minister Amir Peretz said "Israel" was trying to avoid a further confrontation with Hizbullah. "There`s no doubt that this exercise doesn`t demonstrate any intention to get involved in any confrontation or friction," Peretz said. For the first time in six years, an entire "Israeli" Army brigade conducted full blown war games. During the last couple of weeks, battalions from the Paratroopers Brigade conducted military exercises in preparation for the brigade drill. They worked with full cooperation between the air force and the artillery, armor and engineering corps, implementing the lessons learned from last summer`s war in Lebanon. "It is very hard on the troops, on junior officers as well as soldiers, who have never participated in such large scale exercises. Their conduct was good in the last war. Next time they will be exceptional," one officer said. The troops had to deal with complex tasks while advancing dozens of kilometers a day. High-ranking reserve officers, who had participated in "Israeli" wars themselves, participated in the drill as supervisors and to coach the troops. According to Ynet, before the drill started, one of the platoon commanders said that he was worried that his soldiers wouldn`t make it.