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Leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah warns group is ready for war with Israel Leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah warns group is ready for war with Israel
(about 2 hours later)
BEIRUT — The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah organization issued a stern warning to Israel during a defiant address Friday that sought to reassure the militant group’s supporters days after intense clashes with the Israeli military raised fears of war. BEIRUT — The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group issued a stern warning to Israel during a defiant address Friday that also sought to reassure the group’s supporters days after intense clashes with the Israeli military raised fears of war.
Hasan Nasrallah told supporters that the Shiite movement carefully planned an attack Wednesday that killed two Israeli soldiers in the border zone with Lebanon. He described the attack as retaliation for an alleged Israeli assault Jan. 18 in southern Syria that killed six Hezbollah militants and an Iranian general — an act that he called an “assassination.” Hasan Nasrallah told supporters that the Shiite movement carefully planned the attack Wednesday that killed two Israeli soldiers in the border zone with Lebanon. In the televised speech, he described the attack as retaliation for an alleged Israeli assault Jan. 18 in southern Syria that killed six Hezbollah militants and an Iranian general — an act that he called an “assassination.”
“We are not afraid of war. We will fight this war. We will achieve victory, God willing,” he said, appearing to goad Israel, which he labeled a “tumor, a terrorist state, a hostile entity, a bacteria of corruption.” “The Israelis must understand very well that this resistance is not deterred,” he said, before warning Israel directly: “You tried us. Don’t try us again.”
Nasrallah’s speech comes as tensions remain high over Wednesday’s attack, which also killed a Spanish U.N. peacekeeper. Both sides appear to have backed away from further escalation, but the Hezbollah leader was clearly seeking to issue a warning to Israel that his group’s fighters were prepared for renewed conflict. Nasrallah’s speech comes as tensions still run high over Wednesday’s attack, which also killed a Spanish U.N. peacekeeper.
“The Israelis must understand very well that this resistance is not deterred,” he said. The recent violence harkens back to 2006 and incidents along the volatile Lebanon-Israel boundary, which sparked a 34-day war that killed more than 1,000 Lebanese and 165 Israelis.
Nasrallah also accused Israel of aiding al-Qaeda’s wing in Syria, Jabhat al-Nusra, which is fighting in the Syrian Golan Heights area where the Jan. 18 attack took place. After Wednesday’s attack, both sides have backed down from further escalation, but Nasrallah did not mince words when he vowed in his speech that, although Hezbollah does not seek a new war, his group’s fighters are prepared.
That incident, which Nasrallah said was carried out by Israeli helicopters, targeted two vehicles, killing Jihad Mughniyah, 25, the son of Imad Mughniyah, a top Hezbollah militant commander who was assassinated in a 2008 car bombing in Syria’s capital, Damascus. Israel also is thought to have participated in that attack. “We are not afraid of war. We will fight this war. We will achieve victory, God willing,” he said, labeling Israel a “tumor, a terrorist state, a hostile entity, a bacteria of corruption.”
There was no immediate reaction to the speech by Israel.
Nasrallah’s speech comes as Hezbollah militants fight in Syria against the opposition to President Bashar al-Assad. Although the group does not disclose figures on casualties sustained in Syria, analysts give varying estimates on the number of Hezbollah fighters killed over the border that range from the mid-hundreds to as many as 1,000.
Sustaining large deployments of fighters in both Syria and against Israel appears to have placed significant stress on the organization, which was founded in the turmoil following the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982.
“The main objective of Nasrallah’s speech is obviously to lift the morale and feeling of his supporters and fighters,” said Mustafa Allouch, a former Lebanese parliamentarian and critic of Hezbollah. He said that the fighting in Syria had made the group “much weaker.”
Others see the group’s huge arsenal of rockets and trained fighters as a growing deterrent to Israel. Mohammed Obeid, a Lebanese analyst who is close to Hezbollah, said the Nasrallah speech indicated that the group is ready to expand the fight with Israel beyond Lebanon and into Syria.
“He wanted to make it clear that if the resistance came under any attack, it is free to retaliate without any considerations regarding borders,” he said. That includes staging attacks from both Lebanon and Syria, he added.
In his speech, Nasrallah referred to the Jan. 18 attack as “Iranian and Lebanese blood being mixed on Syrian soil.”
That assault, which Nasrallah said was carried out by Israeli helicopters, targeted two vehicles, killing Jihad Mughniyah, 25, the son of Imad Mughniyah, a top Hezbollah militant commander who was himself assassinated in a 2008 car bombing in Syria’s capital, Damascus. Israel also is thought to have participated in that attack.
Also killed was Brig. Gen. Mohammad Ali Allahdadi of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, who Iranian news agencies said was serving as a military adviser to the Assad government. Iran is a key ally of Hezbollah.
Israel declines to confirm or deny a role in the Jan. 18 attack, which took place in the Quneitra area of the Golan Heights.
Nasrallah also accused Israel of aiding the al-Qaeda wing in Syria, Jabhat al-Nusra, which is fighting in the Syrian Golan Heights area where the Jan. 18 attack took place.
“They provide air cover” for al-Qaeda, Nasrallah said of Israel, and “open the borders for them to let in the wounded” for medical treatment.“They provide air cover” for al-Qaeda, Nasrallah said of Israel, and “open the borders for them to let in the wounded” for medical treatment.
U.N. reports say that Israel has been in direct contact with Syrian rebels for well over a year, offering them support such as medical treatment.
Ruth Eglash contributed reporting from Jerusalem.