Lebanon’s Hezbollah chief says nowhere in Israel safe in an all-out war, also threatens Cyprus

The head of Lebanon’s Hezbollah said that nowhere in Israel would be safe if a full-fledged war breaks out between the two foes, and also threatened EU member Cyprus for the first time and other parts of the Mediterranean. Hezbollah has been trading fire with Israel for more than eight months in parallel with the Gaza war. On Tuesday, the Iran-backed group published what it said was drone footage of sensitive military sites deep in Israeli territory. In a televised address on Wednesday, Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said “there will be no place safe from our missiles and our drones” in Israel in the event of a broader war. The group also had “a bank of targets” that it could target in precision strikes, he said. Israel “knows that what also awaits it in the Mediterranean is very big … In the face of a battle of this magnitude, it knows that it must now wait for us on land, in the air, and at sea,” Nasrallah added. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz had warned on Tuesday that a decision on an all-out war with Hezbollah was coming soon and Israel’s military said “operational plans for an offensive in Lebanon were approved and validated”. Nasrallah also threatened Cyprus – the EU member state in closest proximity to Lebanon, with which it has cordial relations – accusing it of allowing Israel to use its airports and bases for military exercises. “The Cypriot government must be warned that opening Cypriot airports and bases for the Israeli enemy to target Lebanon means that the Cypriot government has become part of the war and the resistance (Hezbollah) will deal with it as part of the war,” Nasrallah said. Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides denied any suggestion Cyprus was taking sides in any conflict. “It (Cyprus) is not part of the problem, it is part of the solution. That role is evident, for example, through the humanitarian (aid) corridor which has been acknowledged not only by the Arab world, but from the international community,” he said, referring to shipments of aid from Cyprus to Gaza. Cyprus is not known to offer any land or base facilities to the Israeli military, but has in the past allowed Israel to use its vast airspace – its flight information region – to occasionally conduct air drills, but never during conflict. Sovereign British military bases on Cyprus have been used by Britain for operations in Syria in the past and more recently, Yemen. The Cyprus government has no say in the matter. There are two British bases in Cyprus, which was a colony until 1960. Nasrallah said his group would fight with “no rules” and “no ceilings” in the event of a broader war. He was speaking at a memorial event for a commander killed in an Israeli strike last week – the most senior Hezbollah figure to be killed so far in the current conflict with Israel. Hezbollah unleashed its largest volleys of drones and rockets at Israel in retaliation. UN officials expressed concern at the escalation, and US envoy Amos Hochstein travelled to Israel and Lebanon to urge both sides not to move into a full-scale conflict. Israel views Hezbollah as its most direct threat, and the two fought a 34-day war in 2006 that ended in a stalemate. Hezbollah’s military capabilities have grown significantly since then, and the United States and Israel estimate the group, along with other Lebanese militant factions, has about 150,000 missiles and rockets. Hezbollah also has been working on precision-guided missiles. Israeli strikes have killed more than 400 people in Lebanon, most of them Hezbollah and other militants, but also over 80 civilians and non-combatants. In northern Israel, 16 soldiers and 11 civilians have been killed by strikes launched from Lebanon. On Wednesday, Israel said its warplanes had struck Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon overnight, while reporting a drone had infiltrated near the border town of Metula and targeted troops in an attack claimed by Hezbollah. Hezbollah, meanwhile, announced the death of four of its fighters. Additional reporting by Associated Press and Agence France-Presse

Lebanon’s Hezbollah chief says nowhere in Israel safe in an all-out war, also threatens Cyprus

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah gave a televised address after Israel said it had approved a plan for a Lebanon offensive

Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah gave a televised address after Israel said it had approved a plan for a Lebanon offensive