Nasrallah scared to win?
Photo: AFP
Nasrallah threatens to hit Tel Aviv
Hezbollah leader tells visiting exiles his group will hit Tel Aviv should Israel strike organization's Beirut stronghold; addressing recent election defeat, Nasrallah says he was scared of criticism in case of victory
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah says that his group will not hesitate to attack Tel Aviv should Israel strike the movement's stronghold in Beirut.
Speaking at a closed-door session, Nasrallah reportedly said that his organization has created a new equation vis-à-vis Israel: "Tel Aviv in response to an attack on the Dahiya," Hezbollah's stronghold south of the Lebanese capital.
In a meeting with Lebanese exiles currently visiting the country, Nasrallah was said to estimate that Israel will not remain inactive, but rather, initiate an offensive move "sometime between the end of this year and next spring." His comments were reported by Lebanese television channel al-Jadid.
According to the report, Nasrallah wished his visitors a "peaceful summer" and said that he "refuses to scaremonger" them.
Scared to win?
Later in the meeting, Nasrallah was said to address the recent election results in Lebanon that saw the Hezbollah-led block lose to Saad al-Hariri's camp.
"Elections where one spends $1.2 billion are no elections, but we accept the results," he said. Nasrallah added that he was concerned about the prospect of his group winning the vote, which he said could have prompted charges that it won as result of its military arsenal.
"Yes, we were scared to win the elections, lest we be blamed that we won under the pressure of our arms," he said, adding that his organization has no intention of carrying out "security operations" outside Lebanon.
