In response, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) launched a series of air and artillery strikes at positions in southern Lebanon, generally seen as the support base for Hezbollah. Israeli General Dan Halutz threatened to "turn Lebanon's clock back 20 years"[12] in a reference to the destruction Lebanon suffered in its bloody civil war. Israeli troops later bombed a main road in the south of Lebanon leaving two civilians dead, and a series of air-raids followed during the night which also targeted the civilian infrastructure.