BEIRUT (Dispatches) – The Zionist regime would have carried more acts of aggression if Hezbollah fighters had not retaliated against the recent raids on southern Lebanon by the occupying regime, a senior official with the Lebanese resistance movement says.
The movement’s Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem said, “Hezbollah does not want war, but will not hesitate, as seen in recent days, to respond in case Israel invades Lebanon.”
He made the remarks said during a ceremony on Tuesday, marking the start of the lunar calendar month of Muharram — the 10th day of which marks the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussein, the third Shia Imam.
Sheikh Naim Qassem added, “If the Israeli enemy had not been given a befitting response, it would have continued to conduct more acts of aggression against us.”
Sheikh Qassem said it was the Zionist regime that violated Lebanon’s sovereignty, stressing that the Lebanese people will protect their homeland on their own.
The Zionist regime carried out its first air raids on Lebanese soil in years on August 5, prompting Hezbollah to fire rockets back at the occupied territories the following day.
Hezbollah announced in a statement that its units hit open fields near Israeli positions at 11:15 a.m. local time (0815 GMT) on August 6, using dozens of 122mm-caliber rockets.
Al-Mayadeen television news network said at least 20 rockets had been fired at Israel’s military positions. Al-Manar TV said a number of the rockets had targeted the Douf military base.
Furthermore, the senior Hezbollah official said that the United States cannot be trusted as an honest broker, and the only way to end the occupation is resistance and struggle.
On Saturday, Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said the Lebanese resistance movement does not pursue war, but is not afraid of one either since it is certain about its chances of victory.
Nasrallah described the August 6 retaliation as only a fraction of what Hezbollah is capable of carrying out, saying the group has a reliable array of defensive choices at its disposal in case of a conflict.