New major war threat as Hezbollah leader speaks – Sydsvenskan

On Tuesday, Hezbollah released video footage it said showed drones filming Israeli military infrastructure, among other things, shortly before the Israeli military announced that its plan to invade Lebanon had been approved.

“In an all-out war, Hezbollah would be destroyed and Lebanon would be hit hard,” Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in a statement.

Now, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has responded in a speech at a memorial ceremony for senior Hezbollah members recently killed by Israel.

– (The enemy) knows that there is no place safe from our rockets, he said in a speech broadcast on television screens during a ceremony in Beirut.

He also mentioned the large number of weapons the militia possesses and threatened that the film clip released on Tuesday contained only a small portion of the material obtained by the drone. In the past, there were reports that Hezbollah had 100,000 fighters at its disposal, but now Nasrallah said the number is much higher and that the militia has obtained new weapons that the outside world has not yet seen.

– Nasrallah said an invasion (of Israel) was still possible if fighting escalated.

Nasrallah also claimed that Israel would use Cyprus’ airport and infrastructure in the event of a war with Lebanon, and threatened that in that case “the resistance would target” there.

There are two British military bases on the Mediterranean island, but they are located on sovereign British territory and are not controlled by the Cypriot government.

– Cyprus is not involved in any military conflict. Our actions are part of the solution, not creating problems, Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides said Wednesday in response to the threat, according to Politico.

– Such statements are not pleasant, but they do not reflect reality, he continued, stressing the role of Cyprus in establishing a humanitarian corridor for delivering emergency aid to Gaza.

Fighting continued on Wednesday. Dozens of rockets hit northern Israel, according to Hezbollah. Several were shot down, according to Israel, which in turn reported that warplanes hit two Hezbollah targets in separate locations in southern Lebanon.

Lebanese state media reported several Israeli attacks on villages in the south of the country. According to Hezbollah, four militants were killed during the day.

Assessors have long warned that the Gaza war could escalate into a full-blown regional war along the hotly disputed border between Lebanon and Israel, where Hezbollah and Israeli forces have been firing at each other since Oct. 7.