Israel also wants to protect off-shore natural gas fields close to Lebanon, an old foe with which it has held so far fruitless US-mediated maritime border talks. The navy sees a threat to the gas rigs from Lebanon's Iranian-backed Hezbollah guerrillas, especially after Tehran vowed to retaliate for Friday's killing of nuclear mastermind Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, which it blamed on Israel. "The Iranians are looking for 'prestige' targets like these, that can be hit with low casualties, meaning - they may hope - less chance of escalation," an Israeli security official told Reuters. Though Hezbollah has previously threatened the gas rigs, it said responding to Fakhrizadeh's death was in Iran's hands. These, a senior naval officer said, are precautions against Soviet-designed Yakhont cruise missiles and Iranian-made Khalij Fars rockets that Israel believes are in Hezbollah's arsenal.

Source: bd News24 December 02, 2020 16:30 UTC