A Hezbollah supporter holds a poster of Hezbollah leader Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah during a rally to mark the third anniversary of the end of the 33-day war with Israel, Lebanon, Friday Aug. 14, 2009.
Hezbollah’s leader says Israel does not have the military might to destroy the resistance movement adding that if the regime bombards Beirut they will strike back Tel Aviv.
“I have a question to ask all political and military experts as well as analysts. In your eyes, are the Israeli army and the ruling government capable of attacking Lebanon and breaking the resistance? I tell you that they are not,” Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah said in a speech to mark the end of the third anniversary of Israel’s 33-day war on Lebanon in 2006.
Nasrallah made the remarks after Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak hinted at Tel Aviv’s intention to launch another offensive against Lebanon.
"We tell the Israelis today that if they bombard Beirut or the southern suburbs we will strike Tel Aviv," he added.
Nasrallah said Lebanon’s victory in the 2006 war proved that the Israeli army was no longer undefeatable.
"Lebanon must have a deterrent armed force. When we have such a force, we can tell the Israelis that they will not be able to achieve their goals.”
Israel is unlikely to attack Lebanon, Nasrallah reiterated, asserting at the same time that any Israeli attack, whether it came from ground or air, would surely be repelled by the resistance no matter how modern the Israeli military system would be.
After receiving a crushing defeat in the 2006 war, the Israeli army has been planning to upgrade its military system including its tanks.
Israeli military officials said earlier that Tel Aviv was to equip its Merkava IV tanks, one of the world’s strongest tanks, with a new anti-missile system capable of intercepting incoming missiles. Hezbollah fighters had destroyed several Israeli Merkava tanks during the war.
Nasrallah also pointed to the recently held maneuvers by the Israeli military, saying that the resistance could hit any Israeli cities in case of an attack.
He also said that the Lebanese would all stand united to foil any Israeli plot ‘aimed at disintegrating’ the country.
The Hezbollah leader said Israel’s ongoing threats against Lebanon were ‘psychological warfare’ and served to sow discord among Lebanese parties to hinder the formation of a new cabinet.
Tel Aviv "is (rather) seeking to pressure the Lebanese government against Hezbollah’s participation in the new Cabinet," he said.
Nasrallah also strongly called on the Lebanese security and intelligence services to double their efforts to track down and arrest Israeli-linked spies.
Lebanon has been engaged in disbanding what it believes to be Israeli spy networks as part of a four-month crackdown on espionage activities.
(Press TV)
