Hezbollah’s militant leader has boasted of developing “new weapons” that could be used on the “front lines” of a potential conflict with Cyprus, drawing more nations into rising tensions in the Middle East.
The militant group also hinted that it would add fuel to the conflict between it and Israel, after releasing chilling images of its drones scouting targets in the north of its enemy’s territory.
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the head of the militant group, claimed in a televised speech Wednesday that he is in command of new weapons and intelligence capabilities that could help him target deeper, more critical positions inside Israel in the event of an all-out war.
‘Now we have new weapons. But I won’t say what they are,” he said in a televised speech commemorating a senior Hezbollah commander killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon last week. “When the decision is made, they will be seen on the front line.”
He said that if Israel decided to escalate a war with Lebanon, there would be broader regional consequences.
He claimed that Hezbollah would attack any other country in the region that helped Israel in the war effort, citing Cyprus, which has hosted Israeli forces for training exercises. He suggested that Cyprus could allow Israel to use its bases in the event of a wider war.
Hezbollah’s militant leader (pictured) has boasted of developing “new weapons” that could be used on the “first front” of a potential conflict with Cyprus.
The militant group also hinted that it would add fuel to the conflict between it and Israel, after releasing chilling images of its drones scouting targets in the north of its enemy’s territory.
Members of Hezbollah and supporters of the Iranian-backed Lebanese Shiite militia bury commander Hassan Yehya Naameh on May 20.
Smoke rises during Israeli shelling in the village of Khiam in southern Lebanon, near the border with Israel, on June 19, 2024.
In response, Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides said his island nation is “not involved in any way” in any military operations in the region. Cyprus is “part of the solution, not part of the problem,” he said, pointing to the Cyprus-Gaza maritime corridor used to deliver aid to the Palestinian territory.
Nasrallah’s fiery comments came as the months-long simmering cross-border conflict between Hezbollah and Israel appears to be reaching a boiling point.
The almost 10-minute video published on Tuesday was the clearest indication of the desire to escalate the conflict.
The footage allegedly shows reconnaissance drones flying over Haifa, a city deep in Israel.
Haifa is home to the Port of Haifa, one of Israel’s three international seaports. The city is also home to a well-developed military base, which images show would be a target in an upcoming conflict.
The images, which were geolocated on the western side of the port, claim to show, among other military objectives, buildings belonging to a submarine unit, logistics and support ships, Dvora-class patrol vessels, and German-made Sa’ar war corvettes.
Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike on the southern Lebanese city of Khiam.
A fire breaks out as a result of Israeli military bombing that devastated fields and reached homes, in the village of Shebaa, near Lebanon’s southern border with Israel.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah delivers a speech through a screen at a memorial ceremony for senior field commander Taleb Sami Abdallah.
Nasrallah said Hezbollah has many more images, an apparent threat that it could reach deep into Israel.
Israel’s military chief, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, visited Israeli air defense soldiers near the Lebanese border on Wednesday and said Israel was aware of Hezbollah’s capabilities demonstrated in the video and has solutions for them. threats.
“Of course, we have infinitely greater capabilities,” he said. “I think the enemy is only familiar with some of them and (we) will engage them at the right time.”
Hezbollah, an ally of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, has been exchanging attacks with Israel almost daily since war broke out in Gaza on October 7, aiming to draw Israeli forces away from the besieged Gaza Strip.
Hezbollah attacks intensified after Israel expanded its offensive toward the southern Gaza city of Rafah in May, and increased further in June after an Israeli strike killed senior Hezbollah commander Taleb. Sami Abdullah, the highest-ranking militant killed so far during the war between Israel and Hamas. .
Also on Tuesday, the Israeli military said it had “approved and validated” plans for an offensive in Lebanon, although the decision to launch such an operation would have to come from the country’s political leaders.
The warnings from both sides followed a visit by Joe Biden’s senior adviser Amos Hochstein, who met with officials in Lebanon and Israel in his latest attempt to reduce tensions.
Hochstein told reporters in Beirut on Tuesday that it was a “very serious situation” and that a diplomatic solution was urgently needed to avoid a major war.
Israel views Hezbollah as its most direct threat, and the two fought a 34-day war in 2006 that ended in a stalemate.
Hezbollah’s military capabilities have increased significantly since then, and the United States and Israel estimate that the group, along with other Lebanese militant factions, has around 150,000 missiles and rockets. Hezbollah has also been working on precision-guided missiles.