Israel gearing up for second war with Hezbollah

ZARIT: The Israeli military is preparing for a new conflict with Lebanon's Hezbollah militia if a truce that ended 34 days of war this summer does not hold, a top military commander said on Monday.   

"We are preparing for a second war," said Lieutenant Colonel Guy Hazoot, chief of the division responsible for the Israeli-Lebanese border.   

"We are very optimistic, but on our side we must do everything to prepare for a worst scenario and we are readying for a scenario that Resolution 1701 will not succeed," he said, referring to the UN Security Council resolution that ended the fighting.    

Hazoot was speaking to a group of reporters from the spot where Hezbollah seized two soldiers in July 12 cross-border raids that killed eight other servicemen and sparked Israel's massive assault on the Shiite militia.   

"We will not give Hezbollah the opportunity to come back to these positions," he said, gesturing to Lebanese territory across the border.   

"We will do everything now to prevent Hezbollah from coming back and sitting on the border."   

The liberal Haaretz daily on Monday wrote that according to military assessments, Hezbollah and Syria "are likely to start a war against Israel next summer" and "all preparations are being made to ensure maximum preparedness".   

Israel and the Shiite militia fought a 34-day war that ended with a UN-brokered truce on August 14. Following the ceasefire, several top Israeli officials have said the Jewish state must prepare for a second round of hostilities with the militia, which it says is armed by Syria and Iran. Both Damascus and Tehran deny the charges.