‘Millions of Israelis will be displaced in next war with Hezbollah,’ Nasrallah vows

The Lebanese Shi’ite leader made the remarks just days after Israeli authorities conducted a series of drills simulating war.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
An Israeli man stands with his children at the scene of a rocket attack in Haifa, August 13, 2006 (photo credit: REUTERS)
An Israeli man stands with his children at the scene of a rocket attack in Haifa, August 13, 2006
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary-general of Hezbollah, gave a televised address on Friday vowing to “displace millions of Israelis in the coming war...if it was imposed on Lebanon.”
The Lebanese Shi’ite leader made the remarks just days after Israeli authorities conducted a series of drills. Some Israeli military officers have been quoted in recent weeks as saying that a future confrontation with Hezbollah would result in large numbers of displaced Lebanese.
Nasrallah's speech, which was broadcast to a ceremony featuring scouts of the Hezbollah al-Mahdi youth movement, was reported by the Lebanese news site Naharnet.
Earlier this week, a senior military source said that in the event of a new conflict with Hezbollah, the IDF would seek to evacuate more than a million civilians in south Lebanon within 24 hours before proceeding to strike thousands of Hezbollah targets in some 240 villages and built-up regions.
Large-scale Hezbollah rocket and missile fire would be met with civilian evacuations, massive Israeli aerial strikes, followed by a ground offensive, the source said.
Discussing a new strategy for dealing with Hezbollah’s battle doctrine of using civilian built-up areas as military bases to rain death and destruction upon Israel, the source spoke as the IDF approached the conclusion of a week-long drill simulating conflict on multiple fronts, including the Israel Air Force practicing striking of large numbers of targets and simulating conflict in northern combat arenas.
In his speech on Friday, Nasrallah dismissed the threats as “psychological warfare.”
"We do not fear your war or threats, and nothing has changed if you believe that we are preoccupied with Syria," Nasrallah said. "The drill is an acknowledgement of the capabilities of the resistance."
"Their threats are not new and they are repeating themselves," the Hezbollah chief said. "I tell the Israelis that the world has changed and the proof is their drill."
Yaakov Lappin contributed to this report.