BSS
  19 Jun 2024, 23:28

Hezbollah chief says nowhere in Israel will be spared in case of full-blown war

BEIRUT, June  19, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on

Wednesday warned "no place" in Israel would be spared in case of a full-blown
war and threatened nearby Cyprus if it opened its airports and bases to Israel.

"The enemy knows well that we have prepared ourselves for the worst... and
that no place... will be spared our rockets," Nasrallah said in a televised
address.

Israel must expect "us on land, by sea and by air", he said.

"The enemy really fears that the resistance will penetrate Galilee" in
northern Israel, he said, adding that this was possible "in the context of a
war that could be imposed on Lebanon".

Israel and Hezbollah, a powerful Lebanese movement allied with Hamas, have
traded near-daily cross-border fire since the Palestinian militant group's
October 7 attack on Israel which triggered war in the Gaza Strip.

The exchanges have escalated in recent weeks, and the Israeli military said
Tuesday that "operational plans for an offensive in Lebanon were approved and
validated".

Earlier, Foreign Minister Israel Katz had warned of Hezbollah's destruction
in a "total war".

"Opening Cypriot airports and bases to the Israeli enemy to target Lebanon
would mean that the Cypriot government is part of the war, and the resistance
will deal with it as part of the war," Nasrallah threatened.

Cyprus has good relations with both Israel and Lebanon, and lies close to
the coast of both countries.

Britain has retained sovereign control over two base areas in its former
colony Cyprus under the terms of the treaties that granted the island
independence in 1960.

Nasrallah also warned that his group had only used "a part of" its weapons
since October.
"We have obtained new weapons," Nasrallah said, without elaborating.

"We have developed some of our weapons... and we are keeping others for the
days that will come," he said.

"Years ago we talked about 100,000 fighters... today, we have greatly
exceeded" that number, Nasrallah said.

The Israel-Lebanon clashes have killed at least 478 people in Lebanon, most
of them fighters but also including 93 civilians, according to an AFP tally.

Israeli authorities say at least 15 soldiers and 11 civilians have been
killed in the country's north.