Israeli army chief says conflict is likely

Israeli army chief of staff, Gabi Ashkenazi, was reported on Wednesday as saying that a conflict in the region is likely in the near future. " I can not promise that we will not face such test in the immediate future", Ashkenazi explained, adding that the Israeli army needs to achieve a swift victory in any type of such a conflict. Ashkenazi was speaking to a graduation ceremony of a training course for the military, the Israeli English online daily Haaretz, reported. Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, who was attending the said ceremony, was quoted as saying that " the second war on Lebanon came out with lessons for the army". Over the past week, Israel has been faced with accusations of assassinating the second man in command of the Lebanese Hizbullah party, in Damascus, Emad Mughaniya. The party, which engaged in a war with Israel in the summer of 2006, right after having captured two Israeli soldiers, vowed to avenge the killing of Mughaniya. According to a recent official Israeli report, Israel failed in its war on Lebanon, as Hezbullah appeared triumphant, with the two captured soldiers, remain in captivity. Recently, the Israeli army has bee reportedly deployed troops on the Israel-Lebanon border lines as Israeli patriot missiles have been placed over there. Also, Israel has threatened of waging a large-scale offensive on the Gaza Strip, in order to, what Israel says, ' halt homemade shells fire' , Palestinian resistance fighters continue to launch from the Hamas-ruled Gaza onto adjacent Israeli areas.