Israeli officials have put Lebanon on notice that the country will be held responsible should Hezbollah launch attacks against the Jewish state, after the Iran-backed terror group declared that it would “choose the time and place and the proper way to respond” to what it said was an Israeli Air Force (IAF) strike against one of its outposts along the Syrian border. Lebanon is militarily dominated by Hezbollah, and the group holds positions in Beirut’s cabinet.

“It is self-evident that we see Lebanon as responsible for any attack on Israel from the territory of Lebanon,” Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz said on Friday. “It is the duty of the Lebanese government to prevent any terrorist attack – whether a terrorist or missile attack, or any other kind – on the State of Israel,” he told Israel Radio.

Reports had emerged last Thursday that IAF jets interdicted advanced Syrian weapons stored at a Hezbollah facility along the Lebanese-Syrian border. Israeli analysts last Friday sketched various scenarios of Hezbollah action: a missile attack on Israeli cities, an assassination attempt against Israeli leaders, an overseas bombing of Israeli tourists, or – as in June 2012 – a terrorist attempt against Israeli civilians.

The March 14 alliance, a coalition of Lebanese political parties and movements aligned against Hezbollah and its Syrian ally, blasted the group for its threats.

“What right do they (Hezbollah) have to involve the people of Lebanon against their will in the Syrian struggle?” a message posted by the alliance said. “Only the Lebanese army is qualified to secure the border.”

[Photo: U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv / Flickr]