BICOM

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah gave a rare interview yesterday and warned Israel that the terror group is ready to strike anywhere in Israel, including chemical and nuclear facilities.

Speaking to Lebanon’s al-Mayadeen television, Nasrallah said that he does not anticipate an upcoming conflict with Israel although “I cannot determine this for certain.” He said that “If Lebanon is attacked we would respond without setting any limits or red lines.” Nasrallah warned that “We have a complete list of targets of sensitive installations and research centres, sensitive targets.” These included, said Nasrallah, “petrochemical plants, biological research institutes and nuclear reactors.” Hezbollah has previously specified that it would target a chemical plant near the major northern city of Haifa, while Israel is thought to have a nuclear facility near the southern city of Dimona.

Hezbollah is the de facto ruler of southern Lebanon, where it possesses a large military arsenal, including an estimated 100,000 rockets aimed at Israel. In 2006, Hezbollah fired around 4,000 rockets at Israel during the month-long Second Lebanon War, killing 43 Israeli civilians. Hezbollah has also planned and launched attacks on Israeli citizens across the world, most brutally a bus bomb in the Bulgarian resort of Burgas which killed five Israeli tourists in 2012.

Nasrallah was speaking just a week after the Arab League voted to classify Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation, a decision which came just days after the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), comprising Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman took the same step. The Arab League and GCC’s recognition of Hezbollah as a terror group brings them into line with United States policy and that of the European Union which regards Hezbollah’s military wing as a terror group.

However, in his interview yesterday, Nasrallah accused these Arab countries of working for Israel, saying “Israel does not respond to the Arab regimes’ demands, but some Arab countries work for the sake of the Israelis.”