IRGC Chief: Barrage of Rockets Was 'Message' to Israel That It Does Not Rule in the Region - Reports
21:26 GMT 07.08.2021 (Updated: 13:46 GMT 06.08.2022)
© AP Photo / Vahid Salemi
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Hezbollah fighters fired dozens of rockets into Israel from Lebanese territory earlier this week, which came after the Israeli military struck targets in south Lebanon on late Wednesday. The IDF claimed the strikes were in retaliation for the rockets fired towards the Jewish state earlier in the day.
IRGC Commander Major General Hossein Salami says that Hezbollah's latest rocket attack against Israel was a "message" to the Jewish state's Prime Minister Naftali Bennet "that the equation of response has not changed", Israeli media reported on Saturday.
"We're witnessing, on one hand, the expansion of the strength of the axis of resistance, and on the other hand, the enemy of the resistance getting weaker and approaching the decline and demise of its strength, although it is trying, through virtual space and psychological warfare, to show the opposite in order to hide the widespread panic in its camp," Salami said during his meeting with Sheikh Naim Qassem, Deputy Secretary-General of Hezbollah in Lebanon, on Sunday, according to the Al-Alam news channel.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett attends the weekly cabinet meeting at the prime minister's office in Jerusalem August 1, 2021.
© REUTERS / POOL
"The Zionists have an accurate awareness of this fact, that if the engine of Hezbollah is activated, they must certainly flee from the occupied lands, because the new character of Hezbollah is a militaristic one, which constitutes the force on the ground. If it moves, it will lead to a domino effect," Salami reportedly added.
The Tehran Times also quoted the IRGC chief as saying, "The capacities are ready for the collapse of the Zionist regime. It is enough to create the conditions by their mistake to name the next war as their final destiny."
He also reportedly vowed that Iran would continue to support the resistance forces in Lebanon.
Hezbollah Leader: We Are Not Seeking Escalation, But Will Respond to Another Israeli Strike
Hezbollah issued a statement on Friday confirming the strikes, and adding that "Israel must understand that it must stay deterred".
"We wanted to tell our Israeli enemy that any airstrike against Lebanon will absolutely be met with a response — but in an appropriate, proportional way," Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised address, according to The Times of Israel.
On Saturday, Nasrallah reportedly said that Hezbollah's rockets targeted open military zones in Har Dov, which are considered an occupied territory.
The alarm sirens went off in northern Israel for the second time in a week on early Friday. The Israel Defense Forces confirmed that a total of 19 rockets were fired from Lebanon; three of them fell inside Lebanese territory and 16 crossed the border. Most of the rockets were intercepted. The Israeli army has, in turn, targeted launch sites in Lebanon.
WATCH: More than 10 rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israel, most of which were intercepted by The IDF Aerial Defense System. pic.twitter.com/tRlG7MCe0J
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) August 6, 2021
