Hezbollah responds

Hezbollah: Strikes show Israel wants regional war

Daily Star

8 May, 2013

BEIRUT: The Israeli air strikes on Syria are a sign the Jewish state wants to drag the region into war, a Hezbollah official said Wednesday, adding that the party is prepared to fight back if Lebanon is attacked.

“Israel is attacking sites of power in Syria because [such locations] scare and worry it, but Israel does not attack military sites of [rebel] gunmen because they relieve and serve it,” Sheikh Nabil Qaouk, deputy head of Hezbollah's Executive Council, said during a ceremony.

“After what happened in Syria, it is very normal to conclude that Israel wants to take advantage of the crisis in Syria to change the equation as it seeks to drag the region into a war with its own terms on future warfronts,” he added.

“Our response in Hezbollah is increased arming, preparedness, and readiness to face any Israeli aggression on Lebanon,” Qaouk said.

Israel carried out two aerial strikes on Syria last week, one that reports said targeted a military center near Damascus.

The Hezbollah official also said that the resistance group has strengthened its military capabilities dramatically.

“After all the changes in Syria, the resistance has continued to strengthen the quantity and qualilty of its military capabilities and it is ready today to inflict on Israel a great defeat,” he said.