Lebanon’s Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is seen on a video screen as he addresses his supporters in Beirut, Lebanon February 16, 2018.. (photo credit: REUTERS)
Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the terrorist organization Hezbollah, spoke out on television to mark the 18th anniversary of Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon.
In 2000, Israel unilaterally pulled out of southern Lebanon where for nearly 20 years it maintained a security zone.
Hezbollah started its existence as a Guerrilla organization combating Israel’s presence in Lebanon.
Claiming that Hezbollah does not seek a confrontation with Israel, Nasrallah went on to say that he’s confident Hezbollah will win should a war with Israel break out, reports Israeli news site Walla.
“Israel always threatens,” he claimed, yet in our closed meetings we “always talk about an assured victory against Israel in case of war.”
Nasrallah also lamented that Israeli jets were able to fly via Lebanese airspace en route to missions in Syria on Thursday, and asked “Where is our [Lebanese] sovereignty?” Reported Maariv.
While discussing the new US sanctions against Iran on Friday, Nasrallah claimed they “will cause harm, but will not yield results,” Reuters reported.
Nasrallah said that the new sanctions target the Lebanese people and companies, due to trade relations between the two countries and the damage caused to Lebanese firms who will have to make a choice between dealing with Iran or the US.
He added that the sanctions will not impact the formation of a new government in Lebanon.
He also said the Lebanese government was responsible for people affected by the sanctions and must not turn its back on them.
Saad al-Hariri was designated as Lebanon’s next prime minister on Thursday and claimed all parties agreed that a national unity government must be formed as quickly as possible.
Hezbollah intends to secure three cabinet seats in the next coalition government. This would be an increase from the two portfolios it held in the outgoing cabinet of 30 ministers, a senior official familiar with the group’s thinking told Reuters.
Parliament re-elected the Hezbollah-allied Shi’ite politician Nabih Berri as its speaker on Wednesday, extending his tenure in the post he has held since 1992. Another Hezbollah ally, Elie Ferzli, was elected as his deputy.
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