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Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan
Nasrallah appears on a giant screen as he addresses his supporters during
a rally marking the third anniversary of the end of the 2006
Israel-Lebanon war, in Beirut's suburbs August 14, 2009.(Xinhua/Reuters
Photo) Photo
Gallery>>> |
BEIRUT, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese Shiite armed
group Hezbollah's chief Hassan Nasrallah said here on Friday that his party is
ready to go to war with Israel but denied the possibility of a war with the
Jewish state in the near future.
Speaking through the giant screen to thousands of
audiences attending the ceremony to commemorate the war with Israel in
2006,Nasrallah said that his party did not believe that there will be a war with
Israel in the near future, but they are not afraid of a war.
"Israel is no longer a nation that cannot be
defeated," said Nasrallah in the ceremony held in Beirut's southern suburb, "but
if the Jewish state bombards Beirut or its southern suburbs, Hezbollah will
strike Tel Aviv."
Nasrallah said Lebanon must have a deterrent military
force to meet head-on with Israel. "When we have such a deterrent force, we can
tell the Israelis that they will not be able to achieve their goals," Nasrallah
added.
The devastating war between Israel and Hezbollah in
the summer of 2006 killed more than 1,200 Lebanese civilians 160 Israelis.
Israel destroyed Hezbollah's strongholds in southern Lebanon and the southern
suburb of Beirut before ending with a UN-brokered ceasefire on August 14, 2006.
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Lebanon's Hezbollah supporters take part
in a rally marking the third anniversary of the end of the 2006
Israel-Lebanon war, in Beirut's suburbs August 14, 2009.(Xinhua/Reuters
Photo) Photo
Gallery>>> |
Speaking of the Israel's threats that has been
launched on Hezbollah in the past two weeks, Nasrallah said that Hezbollah did
not believe that behind Israel's threats are plans for war on Lebanon, but
Israel is seeking to pressure the Lebanese government against Hezbollah's
participation in the new Cabinet.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on
Monday that the Lebanese government would take responsible for any new attacks
against Israel coming from its territory if the Shiite group was included in the
new cabinet.
It is the seventh week after Saad Hariri was designated as Prime Minister following his March 14 Alliance won the June 7 elections over Hezbollah-dominant opposition March 8 Alliance. However, Hariri is still striving to form a national unity government as different political blocs cannot reach an agreement on some important portfolios.