BEIRUT: The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah said on Thursday that keeping the militant group’s arsenal a “secret” is part of its battle against Israel and that his guerrillas won’t be frightened by Israeli threats to attack Lebanon.
Hassan Nasrallah made a point of not disclosing whether his guerrillas now have anti-aircraft missile systems that could stand up to Israeli air raids.
“There has been an Israeli uproar about the reinforcement of Hezbollah’s strength. There has been talk of sophisticated arms and an air defense system and threats if Hezbollah uses this kind of system,” Nasrallah said.
“No one can expect me to stand up and say (whether) we possess new weapons or we don’t,” he added. “Keeping (weapons) secret is part of ... (Hezbollah’s) strength. This is part of directing the battle of liberation and resistance against this (Israeli) enemy.”
Nasrallah’s remarks came during a televised speech to supporters Thursday night, marking the second anniversary of a UN-brokered cease-fire that ended the 2006 summer war between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and other senior Israeli officials have warned in recent statements that Hezbollah has reinforced its arsenal in defiance of the UN resolution that ended the 2006 war. Israeli media reports claimed that Hezbollah acquired an anti-aircraft missile system to strike Israeli warplanes in the event of a new Israeli attack on Lebanon.
In turn, Nasrallah accused Israel of planning to assassinate Hezbollah leaders, saying this would not deter Hezbollah from continuing its battle against the Jewish state.
“I tell the Zionists: We don’t fear you. Say whatever you want and do whatever you want. We know that you are planning new assassinations of resistance leaders. But this will not make us retreat,” he said. “We are staying here and standing fast here.”
In the past, Nasrallah has said Hezbollah possesses thousands of long-range missiles capable of hitting any area in Israel and that having these missiles was part of “a psychological war” against Israel.
Meanwhile, relatives of suspected members of an Islamist group that battled the Lebanese army last year staged protests yesterday demanding their release from jail. Hundreds gathered inside Al-Omari Mosque in central Beirut after Friday prayers in support of some 300 people arrested after more than three months of deadly clashes between the army and the Al-Qaeda-inspired Fatah Al-Islam.
The protesters, among them men and women who answered a call from the radical Islamist Hizb Al-Tahrir group, held up banners saying: “Free these innocents immediately.” Dozens more protesters gathered outside Rumieh prison in eastern Beirut where the prisoners are held, also calling for their release.
