Israel says military has ‘effective deterrence’ against Hezbollah

PanARMENIAN.Net - Israel's top general said Wednesday, Feb 17, that the military has "effective deterrence" against the militant Hezbollah group, the Associated Press reports.

Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot spoke after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah threatened to attack an ammonia storage facility in northern Israel.

Nasrallah said Tuesday that "our rockets combined with the ammonia storage facility in Haifa will create the effect of a nuclear weapon."

Eisenkot said Hezbollah is Israel's most formidable adversary, but that for ten years Israel's border with Lebanon has been its quietest frontier. In 2006 Israel fought a war with the militant group in Lebanon.

The mayor of Haifa in northern Israel seized Nasrallah's threat as an opportunity to highlight his city's environmental problems.

Yona Yahav said Wednesday "we are happy for help" in putting the environmental issue on the agenda, "even if it arrives from a frightened man hiding in his bunker."

He said Haifa faces environmental threats from the ammonia facility and an oil refinery. Israel's environment ministry says it plans to move the facility to southern Israel.