Lebanon-based Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said Tuesday in a speech delivered live in honor of the Ashura holiday that it is time for the terror group to “direct [its] gaze toward Israel.”
The address, broadcast live over Hezbollah-linked Al Manar TV, focused primarily on the current civil war raging in Syria and how it connects to Israel.
“Southern Lebanon is prepared to fight [Israel], despite the presence of our soldiers in Syria,” Nasrallah proclaimed. “We are capable of aiming at any target in Israel,” he added – making a clear reference to the extended range of the missiles in Hezbollah’s current arsenal.
“We are not afraid of war,” Nasrallah went on. “We are a threat to Israel, not the other way around. Their threats lay in their lost hope, not in their military capabilities.
“The Arab League needs to rise up against the Israeli aggression,” he advised. “Israel exploits changes in the Arab world to attain its goals.”
Referring possibly to the threat posed by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terror organization, Nasrallah said that his group has been facing “the region’s largest threat.”
His fighters are entitled to the honor that comes with victory over Israel, he said.
“Latest developments in Syria and the region convince us that we have made the right choice in joining the Syrian battles,” he said.
The terror chief has remained in hiding since the 2006 Second Lebanon War, fearing a targeted assassination attempt by Israeli intelligence operatives.
Israel’s northern region has been on alert since early this summer. The defense establishment has maintained a close watch along the entire northern border since the start of Operation Protective Edge.