In a televised address broadcast on June 19, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned that there would be no safe place in Israel if war broke out between the armed group and the Jewish state, and threatened Cyprus for the first time times.
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This is Hassan Nasrallah’s most muscular speech since the start of the fighting on the Lebanese-Israeli border on October 8, reports our correspondent in Beirut, Paul Khalifeh.
The Hezbollah leader said his party, backed by Iran, would fight without limits or ceilings if Israel launched a full-scale war against Lebanon. His men could even go on the offensive and enter Galilee. “ Wait for us by land, sea and air “, he told the Israelis.
Hassan Nasrallah indicated that Hezbollah’s numbers well exceeded one hundred thousand men, specifying that the human resources at its disposal are sufficient even in the event of total war.
Hezbollah, he added, has used only some of its weapons, and some types of missiles, rockets and drones are manufactured in Lebanon. It also has a database of strategic targets and the means necessary to achieve them, in any corner of Israel.
Hassan Nasrallah has suggested that in the event of war, his party would target Israeli ports and ships. “ What awaits Israel in the Mediterranean will be of very great magnitude “, he warned.
Nasrallah threatens Cyprus if the island’s airports
The leader of Hezbollah also threatened Cyprus of retaliation if the island’s airports were made available to the Israeli air force in the event of total war. “ Opening Cypriot airports and bases to the Israeli enemy to target Lebanon would mean the Cypriot government is party to the war “, he said.
Read alsoIsrael-Hamas War: Cyprus at the heart of the Western military and humanitarian system in the Mediterranean
The devastating war in Gaza, which erupted after an unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, has led to daily violence on the Israeli-Lebanese border between Hezbollah, an ally of the Palestinian Islamist movement, and the Israeli army. , which have intensified in recent weeks. The Hezbollah leader said that in the event of war, Israel “ must [les] wait by land, by sea and by air. »
In another part of his speech, he asserted that “ the enemy really fears that the Resistance will enter the Galilee ” in northern Israel, adding that it was a ” possibility […] in the context of a war that could be imposed on Lebanon. »
Read alsoLebanon: Hezbollah releases drone video of sensitive Israeli sites
Israeli army approves plans for offensive in Lebanon
The Israeli army indicated on the evening of Tuesday June 18 that it had approved plans for an offensive in Lebanon against a backdrop of intensifying cross-border clashes with the militia of the Lebanese Islamist movement Hezbollah. As part of a “ assessment of the situation “conducted on Tuesday in the presence of Major General Ori Gordin, Commander of the Northern Military Region and the Head of the Operations Directorate, Major General Oded Basiuk, ” operational plans for an offensive in Lebanon were approved and validated », Indicates the army in a brief press release. It was also decided to “ continue to improve the readiness of troops on the ground », adds the text.