Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah said on Tuesday that his militants would bomb military, civilian and commercial ships heading to Israel in the event of a new war with the Jewish state.
“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 targeted by the Islamic resistance,” Nasrallah said 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 said, speaking on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon after a 22-year occupation.
PHOTO: REUTERS
“When the world sees how these ships are destroyed, no one will dare go there [Israel],” he said. “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 was to erupt.
His speech came against a backdrop of tension in the region following allegations that the Shiite party, which fought a devastating war with Israel in 2006, was stockpiling sophisticated new weapons in anticipation of a new conflict.
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.
“The enemy is scared and we will keep him scared, but you [the Lebanese] should feel assured because the equation has changed,” he said, referring to Israel.
“In the next war, we will resist, come out victorious and change the face of the region, God willing,” he said 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.
“Despite its economic crisis, the US finds money to assist Israel,” Nasrallah said.
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 and as such we can impose our conditions,” he said. “If you are weak, you will be eaten.”
His speech came as Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri was on his first official visit to the US, where he met on Monday with US President Barack Obama, who raised the issue of illegal arms smuggled into Lebanon.
Yesterday, Hariri was to address the UN Security Council, chaired this month by Lebanon.
Hezbollah, blacklisted as a terrorist organization by Washington, has two ministers in the Lebanese government.
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