Israel, Hezbollah ramp up war of words across Lebanon border

Israel and Hezbollah escalated their verbal sparring Sunday, with a senior Hezbollah official warning that any "silly act" by Israel would garner a response to make "the war of summer 2006 look like a joke."

Hashem Safi al-Din said that Hezbollah was not interested in war, but that it was alert to every possible scenario and was ready for confrontation.

Al-Din's comments came in response to comments made by Defense Minister Ehud Barak in recent weeks, who said that he would not hesitate to instruct the Israel Defense Forces to act in the event of an escalation along the Israel-Lebanon border.

"We cannot accept the reality that in a neighboring UN member state, one of the components of the sovereign government is a terrorist organization," Barak said recently.

Earlier Sunday, Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon also warned Hezbollah, saying that it would pay a heavy price if it harms Israeli diplomats or civilians abroad.

In an interview with Israel Radio, Ayalon referred to reports from Saturday that a terror cell planned to assassinate the Israeli ambassador to Egypt, adding that Israel views gravely attempts to harm Israelis abroad, and that such attempts had been made not just in Egypt but in other countries as well.

"If, heaven forbid, one hair is harmed on the head of an Israeli representative abroad or of an unofficial representative such as a tourist, we will view Hezbollah as responsible, and it will suffer the consequences, which will be very severe."