Israel to hit Lebanon if Hezbollah attacks: minister

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned that Israel will strike directly at Lebanese institutions if the militant group Hezbollah launches rockets at Israeli town, in an interview published Monday.

An Israeli soldier using his binoculars at a border post on the Israel-Lebanon border, December 2008 (© AFP/File - Ali Dia)

Barak, who is expected to arrive in Washington Monday, made clear his government will not tolerate any more Hezbollah attacks.

If Hezbollah fires a rocket into Tel Aviv, "we will not run after each Hezbollah terrorist or launcher," Barak told The Washington Post.

"We will see it as legitimate to hit any target that belongs to the Lebanese state, not just to Hezbollah," he added.

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri has said Israel is "trying to justify a war against Lebanon that it could launch when it wishes" and has complained of Israeli surveillance flights over Lebanese territory, The Post pointed out.

Tensions between Israel and Lebanon have escalated amid reports that Lebanese activists plan to dispatch aid ships to the Hamas-run Gaza Strip despite an Israeli blockade, the newspaper said.

Barak called the aid ships an "unnecessary provocation", according to The Post.