The Israeli army announced that it had “thwarted an infiltration attempt by a Hizbollah terror squad in northern Israel”. Addressing the Knesset, Prime Minister Netanyahu affirmed that Israel would “not allow Iran to entrench militarily on our border with Syria”, underscored that “Lebanon and Hizbollah will bear responsibility for any attack against us emanating from Lebanese territory” and indicated that “We are active in all arenas for the security of Israel – both close to our borders and far from them”. Hizbollah subsequently issued a statement maintaining it “did not engage in any clash, nor did it open fire during today’s incident… The scared and tense enemy unilaterally opened fire”. It further pledged an “inevitable” response to the 20 July death of a Hizbollah fighter in Syria and insisted that “today’s Israeli bombardment… will not remain unanswered”. Later in the day, Netanyahu asserted: “[Hizbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah is embroiling Lebanon because of Iran… we view the attempt to infiltrate our territory with great severity”. “Hizbollah needs to understand that it is playing with fire. Any attack against us will be met with great strength”, he added.