Gaza, May 26: The Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah’s secretary general has vowed response to any renewed Israeli offensive on Lebanese territory.
“If we are targeted, we target them as well. (If) we are killed, we can kill. (If) we are forced to leave our homes, we force them to leave their homes. (If) we are confronted, we confront them and so they will have a real problem,” Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Tuesday.
He also said unity between the Lebanon’s army and the resistance movement was essential for victory over Israel.
The Hezbollah leader made the remarks on the tenth anniversary of the unsuccessful Israeli war on Lebanon in 2000. The year saw the Hezbollah fighters driving Israeli troops out of positions they had captured initially at the start of the war.
Nasrallah called the resistance key to the liberation of Lebanese territory from the Israeli occupation, adding that the victory formed a turning point in Lebanon’s history.
The resistance fighters headed off a second round of Israeli attacks in 2006. About 1,200 Lebanese, most of them civilians, were killed in the 33-Day War.
Nasrallah also referred to Tel Aviv’s current Turning Point 4 drills, which are planned to be conducted in 68 Israeli cities and towns and said that, “The enemy…finds itself obliged to learn the lessons of year 2006 and go ahead and practice these maneuvers.”
The prospects of the drills, which followed a number of military escalations by Tel Aviv, prompted Hezbollah to deploy thousands of its fighters to southern Lebanon.
Some analysts, meanwhile, say the maneuvers are meant to hurt the Lebanese tourism industry at a season when foreign visitors are usually attracted to the country’s scenic locations.
———Agencies