Beirut, May 26: Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said on Tuesday that his fighters would bomb all ships heading to Israel in the event of a new war with Tel Aviv.
“If you (Israel) launch a new war on Lebanon, if you blockade our coastline, all military, civilian or commercial ships heading through the Mediterranean to occupied Palestine will be targetted by the Islamic resistance,” said Nasrallah in a speech transmitted via video link to thousands of supporters massed in Hezbollah’s stronghold in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
“Whether along the northern or southern Israeli shore, we can target ships, bomb them and hit them God willing,” he added, speaking on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon after a 22-year occupation.
“When the world sees how these ships are destroyed, no one will dare go there (Israel),” he added. “You will forgive me if one ship manages to slip through.”
Nasrallah also reiterated past threats of bombing Israeli airports and other strategic targets if a new war erupts.
His speech came against a backdrop of tension in the region following Israeli threats against Lebanon, and claims that Hezbollah is stockpiling sophisticated weaponry.
Nasrallah said in his hour-long speech that he would not comment on his party’s military capacity so as to reserve a “surprise” for Israel in the event of a new conflict.
Israel waged a bloody 34-day war on Lebanon in the summer of 2006, which claimed the lives of more than 1,200 people in Lebanon, most of them civilians, and more than 160 Israelis, most of them soldiers.
“The enemy is scared and we will keep him scared,” he said, referring to Israel. “But you (the Lebanese) should feel assured because the equation has changed.
“In the next war, we will resist, come out victorious and change the face of the region God willing,” he added to applause.
Nasrallah accused Israeli leaders of spreading allegations that Syria was transferring Scud missiles to Hezbollah in order to garner further US financial assistance.
“The whole brouhaha over the Scuds was so that Israel could get 200 or 250 million dollars in aid from the US Congress,” he claimed.
“Despite its economic crisis, the US finds money to assist Israel.”
He said his party was not seeking a new conflict and would neither confirm nor deny Israel’s allegations concerning the Scuds.
“If you are strong, the world respects you and talks to you and takes you into account,” he said. “And as such we can impose our conditions.
“If you are weak, you will be eaten.”
His speech came as Prime Minister Saad Hariri was on his first official visit to the United States, where he met on Monday with President Barack Obama.
On Wednesday, Hariri was to address the UN Security Council, chaired this month by Lebanon.
Hezbollah, originally a resistance group formed to counter an Israeli occupation of south Lebanon, had forced the Israeli military out of Lebanon in 2000. Israel, however, continues to occupy the Lebanese Shabaa Farms.
—Agencies