MOSCOW, January 31 (Sputnik) – Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Lebanese movement Hezbollah has warned Israel that the group does not fear a new war, even though it isn't seeking to provoke military activity.
In a televised address to thousands of his supporters in Beirut's southern suburbs on Friday, Nasrallah said Hezbollah was left with no choice but to retaliate after the deaths of an Iranian general and six Hezbollah fighters near the Golan Heights city of Quneitra in south-western Syria, on January 18.
On Wednesday, January 28, Hezbollah responded with rocket and mortar fire on an Israeli military convoy near Shebaa Farms, a strip of disputed land at the intersection of the Lebanese-Syrian border and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, which took the lives of two soldiers.
"This is to tell Israel that you cannot kill people and feel safe … soldiers prancing around the border as if you killed flies," The Wall Street Journal quoted Hassan Nasrallah as saying in what was his first address to supporters since the Israeli attack. "From the first hours it was clear…we must respond."
"The most important message to Israel is: Do not mistake the calculations. I'm not talking about psychological warfare, but the mere truth, which we expressed in the battlefield," he added.
Nasrallah described the latest attack in Shebaa, stating that it was meant to be a tit-for-tat response to the Israeli attack.
"We understand that Israel wants to escape from military confrontation and go after the men responsible for Wednesday's operation," he said. "From now on, if any cadre or member of Hezbollah is assassinated, then we will blame it on Israel and reserve the right to respond to it whenever and however we choose."
Hezbollah, established in the 1980s, is a paramilitary and political organization originating in Lebanon's Shiite population. The group aims to end Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon. It is considered a terrorist organization by Israel and certain Western countries.
