Nasrallah: Hizbullah stronger, no longer scared of Israel
In 2nd speech in recent days, Hizbullah leader says Israel's psychological war has failed; says Shi'ite group will defend its honor.
By JPOST.COM STAFFNasrallah on Screen 311(photo credit: Associated Press)Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Thursday said that recent warnings made by Israeli officials that Lebanon would be dealt a heavy blow if Hizbullah attacks Israel do not scare the Shi'ite organization and will not cause it to change its goals, reported Israel Radio.During a speech to mark the Shi'ite Muslim Ashoura festival, Nasrallah said that gone are days in which Israel threatened or intimidated his organization. He added that Israel has been waging a psychological war that has failed, and that Hizbullah is better today than it was in the past.RELATED:Hizbullah: We are ready for another war with IsraelAnalysis: How will Nasrallah react to UN's Hariri findingsCommenting on the international tribunal investigating the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri, Nasrallah again blamed Israel and the US for conspiring to divide, and stir tensions between, Shi'ites and Sunnis.He stressed that Hizbullah rejects any attempt to blame it for Hariri's murder and promised that the organization would defend its honor. This is the second speech Nasrallah has made in as many days.In another speech delivered to his followers Wednesday night also to commemorate the Ashoura festival, Nasrallah dwelled at length over recent Hizbullah triumphs over Israeli forces and Israel's political position in the Middle East.Nasrallah celebrated the reportedly successful Lebanese Army dismantlement of two alleged Israeli long-range spy cameras planted on two mountains north and south of the capital Beirut, thanking the soldiers "for working so hard in the snow" while undertaking the operation. All reports over the operation stated that a the Lebanese Armed Forces located the devices after receiving information from Hizbullah.The Hizbullah leader also sought to cast Israel, and not Iran or its allies, as the main destabilizing force in the Middle East. Israel seeks to "create strife" in the Middle East to shore up its precarious "strategic position," Nasrallah was quoted as saying on the website of Lebanese daily An-Nahar.Nasrallah also took credit for the end of the idea of a "Greater Israel" among the Israeli public and reiterated his previous statement that Hizbullah would not hand over any members who might be mentioned in the UN Hariri tribunal's upcoming indictments.The mysterious explosion near the southern Lebanese city of Sidon reported Wednesday evening was from the destruction of a third Israeli spying device that was destroyed by IAF aircraft, reports citing Lebanese radio station Radio Lebanon stated Thursday.
The device was said to have been planted in the coastal water near the Lebanese city.Elsewhere in Lebanon, a loud explosion was heard near the city of Sidon in the South on Wednesday evening, Lebanese media reported.Lebanese media also claimed that IAF aircraft were spotted in the area were the explosion occurred, dropping flares around the area and that Israeli naval ships were spotted operating off the nearby coast. The reports included speculation that the alleged Israeli military operations were somehow connected to the discovery of the two spy cameras earlier in the day.The IDF released a statement saying that there had been no unusual activity by the IAF in Southern Lebanon.
