Nir Barkat, Israel’s Minister of Economy, warned Israel’s enemies — namely Iran — that they will pay dearly if they decide to join Hamas’ war against Israel.
Barkat’s remarks come as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have pounded northern Gaza with precision airstrikes targeting terrorist infrastructure — after warning civilians repeatedly to evacuate the areas — after Palestinian terrorists with Hamas murdered more than 1,400 Israelis two weeks ago.
Fear has risen that as Israel prepares to enter Gaza for its ground offensive against Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad that Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed terrorist group based in Lebanon, could enter the war by attacking Israel from the north.
Speaking with The Mail on Sunday, Barkat, who said last week that Israel’s military has been given the “green light” to launch the offensive, warned Iran that Israel will strike back if Hezbollah enters the war. He said that not only will Israel “eliminate Hezbollah”, Israel will “actually target Iran” and will “wipe them out.”
“The plan of Iran is to attack Israel on all fronts. If we find they intend to target Israel, we will not just retaliate to those fronts, but we will go to the head of the snake, which is Iran,” he said. “The Ayatollahs in Iran are not going to sleep good at night, we are going to make sure they pay a heavy price if, God forbid, they open the northern front.”
He said that Hezbollah and Lebanon will pay “a heavy price” if they dare join the war, “similar to what Hamas is going to pay,” but warned “that’s not enough.”
“The very clear message is that we are going to be going after the heads of Iran as well. When will we do that? When we decide,” he added. “Israel has a very clear message to our enemies. We are saying to them, look what’s happening in Gaza – you are going to get the same treatment if you attack us. We are going to wipe you off the face of the Earth.'”