Hezbollah says tens of thousands of fighters ready to battle Israel
Hezbollah says tens of thousands of fighters ready to battle Israel
Hezbollah's leader has claimed his group was ready to fight Israel, which has tried to advance deeper into southern Lebanon for week amid huge airstrikes
3 min read
The speech was Qassem's second since he was named Hezbollah secretary-general last week [Getty/file photo]
Hezbollah said Wednesday that tens of thousands of its militants were ready to fight Israel, adding that the US election result would have no bearing on the war in Lebanon.
The Iran-backed group's leader also warned that nowhere in Israel would be "off-limits" to attacks, as the Israeli military said about 120 projectiles had been fired across the border on Wednesday.
The Israeli military struck Hezbollah's main bastion in the southern suburbs of Beirut after issuing an evacuation warning.
Israel and Hezbollah have been trading fire since October last year when Hezbollah said it was opening a "support front" for Gaza. The violence dramatically escalated when Israel widened its war on Lebanon in mid-September.
Efforts to end the war in Gaza have yet to bear fruit, and the war in Lebanon has killed over 3,000 people, according to the Lebanese health ministry. Most of the civilian toll has been accounted for in the past six to seven weeks.
"We have tens of thousands of trained resistance combatants" ready to fight, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said in a televised speech marking 40 days since his predecessor Hassan Nasrallah was killed in a massive airstrike south of Beirut.
The address was aired after Donald Trump's victory in the US election was announced, but had been recorded earlier.
He said the result in the race between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris would have no impact on any possible ceasefire deal for Lebanon.
"We don't base our expectations for a halt of the aggression on political developments," he said.
"Whether Harris wins or Trump wins, it means nothing to us.
"What will stop this... war is the battlefield" he said, citing fighting in south Lebanon and Hezbollah attacks on Israel.
Earlier on Wednesday, Hezbollah said it targeted a military base near Israel's main airport close to commercial hub Tel Aviv, an attack that Israel's Airports Authority said did not disrupt operations.
Earlier Wednesday, Lebanon's official National News Agency reported Israeli airstrikes on Bekaa in eastern Lebanon and the southern city of Nabatiyeh, which have killed dozens.
An AFP correspondent in the eastern city of Baalbek reported intense strikes in and around the city.
The speech was Qassem's second since he was named Hezbollah secretary-general last week.
Israel is "betting on prolonging the war so it becomes a war of attrition... We are ready," he said.
He also called for Lebanese sovereignty to be safeguarded in any truce talks.
Qassem demanded explanations from the Lebanese army after Israeli naval commandos seized a man from north Lebanon on Saturday who they said was a senior Hezbollah operative.
He said the operation was "a great offence to Lebanon" and a "violation" of its sovereignty.
On Tuesday, a Lebanese judicial official told AFP that Israeli commandos used a speedboat equipped with advanced devices capable of jamming UN peacekeepers' radars for the operation, according to a preliminary probe.
The UN Maritime Task Force has helped the Lebanese military to monitor territorial waters and prevent the entry of arms or related material by sea since 2006, according to the mission's website.
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