BEIRUT: Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah has warned that Tel Aviv will be the first target in any war Israel decides to launch against Lebanon, Friday’s Al-Akhbar reported.
“Any war that Israel decides to initiate in the future will start in Tel Aviv, not in the occupied northern areas.” Nasrallah was quoted as saying in one of his meetings with high-ranking officials in the party.
“They [Israelis] will launch a war [but] without having any of the red lines that they have drawn for themselves in previous wars,” he said.
Nasrallah also said that the resistance has plenty of surprises in store for the Israelis which would change the face of the region.
“If Israel decides to launch a war against Lebanon – and I'm speaking from an insider point of view on the resistance's capabilities – this time breaking the bones of the Israeli army will not be enough, we will crush them,” he added.
Nasrallah’s remarks are the latest in a series of statements by the leader and other Hezbollah officials in which they have said the resistance is stronger than it once was, and denied that recent infiltration within the party has harmed the capabilities of the group.
In June Hezbollah announced that it had discovered three of its members were spying for foreign intelligence agencies, including two working for the Central Intelligence Agency.
The Hezbollah leader also touched upon domestic and regional issues, and said that he is keen to maintain the relationship with Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt, who has recently expressed views in opposition to the party’s.
He also discussed the importance of strengthening ties with the group’s allies, such as Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun.
Regarding the controversial issue of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which has accused four Hezbollah members of involvement in the assassination of former statesman Rafik Hariri, Nasrallah said: “It is behind us now.”
He also ruled out the possibility of a civil war in Lebanon, saying that whoever sought to spread strife is no longer able to do so, referring to the March 14 coalition, the former majority in government.
Nasrallah spoke about the strategic importance of the Syrian regime for the resistance in the region, from Palestine to Iraq and Lebanon, and added that the situation in the neighboring country was much better than it was four months ago.
The leader also spoke about Iran and the recent U.S. accusation that the Islamic Republic was involved in a foiled plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the U.S.
“Information had it that the possibility of military aggression against Iran five years ago was 90 percent, but now this has declined to 10 percent,” he said.