Gaza, December 05: The head of the Hezbollah executive council says the resistance movement is fully prepared to counter any Israeli threats against Lebanon’s sovereignty.
Sayyed Hashem Safi al-Din made the remark on Saturday, a day after Hezbollah members discovered an Israeli espionage device planted in south Lebanon.
“This is clear proof that the resistance is alert and performing its duty. It is clear proof that the Israelis are not yet through with Lebanon and that it is still a target of the Israelis,” Safi al-Din said.
An Israeli surveillance plane remotely detonated the device in the Bint Jbeil district of southern Lebanon on Friday after it was discovered.
Safi al-Din added that Lebanon’s sovereignty “is being violated daily by Israeli surveillance planes and drones.”
This is not the first such Israeli violation of Lebanese sovereignty that has been thwarted by Hezbollah. The resistance movement had also uncovered a number of Israeli espionage devices in several areas of southern Lebanon in 2009 and 2010.
Timur Goksel, a former senior adviser to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), told Press TV that Hezbollah is not a weak organization and it is paying “very big attention” to intelligence and security work.
“They (Hezbollah) are making very good use of their popularity with the people. The people report to them in the villages. That is a fantastic source for any intelligence organization,” Goksel said.
The Lebanese government, Hezbollah, and UNIFIL have repeatedly cited Israel’s surveillance flights over Lebanon as clear violations of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and the country’s sovereignty.
Resolution 1701, which brokered a ceasefire in the war of aggression Israel launched against Lebanon in 2006, calls on Tel Aviv to respect Beirut’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
——Agencies