Wizdom
22-02-08, 17:16
Last update - 19:04 22/02/2008
Nasrallah: Lebanese agents planning new war with Israel within months
By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said Friday that operatives within Lebanon are planning a new war with Israel in coming months.
Nasrallah, who made a speech in honor of the "Islamic Resistance Week," maintained that activists from his organization are ready for battle against the Israel Defense Forces and will fight the IDF soldiers "in every wadi" in ways they haven't fought in the past.
The Hezbollah chief spoke at a rally in front of thousands who came to commemorate Imad Mughniyah's death in a car bombing in Damascus on Feb. 12. He also spoke about the 1992 targeted killing of the former director- general of Hezbollah, Abbas Moussawi.
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"No one can protect the entire Israeli home front from our missiles," he said. "If they think of entering the south, to any valley, any hill, I swear you (Israelis) will carry your tanks and soldiers and your entire army will collapse under the feet of Imad Moughinyah," Nasrallah said
"I swear to you Haj Imad, your blood will not go to waste," Nasrallah
"We will defend ourselves the way we choose, at the time we choose, in the place we choose... With our will and bravery we will defend ourselves and our blood," he said.
At time of his death, Moughniyah was the commander of Hezbollah's guerrilla army.
But he had been on the United States' most wanted list and hunted by the Mossad for two decades for his role in a string of kidnappings, hijackings and attacks against Western and Israeli targets that killed hundreds in the 1980s and early 1990s.
"Destroying Israel is an inevitable outcome, a historic law, a divine doctrine," he said. "When Israel won't have an army it won't survive, and that's what I said about Mughniyah's blood leading to the elimination of Israel."
He maintained that Hezbollah is waging an "open war" with Israel, emphasizing that "the war is open since 1948, before I was born."
Nasrallah said that Syria is responsible for investigating the Mughniyah's assasination, and updating the Shiite organization with its findings.
He maintained that the investigation strengthened his view that Israel stands behind the assassination, praising Mughniyah's involvement in the kidnapping of Israeli businessman Elhanan Tennenbaum and forcing Israel to leave Lebanon in the year 2000.
Israel flights taking extra precautions due to Hezbollah hijacking threats
Israel is requiring that passengers on all incoming flights be confined to their seats in the half-hour before landing as part of heightened precautions against hijacking, aviation security sources said on Friday.
They said the Transport Ministry order, issued to local and foreign airlines on Wednesday, cited threats by Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas to avenge the February 12 assassination of their operations chief by waging "open war" against Israel.
"Our new policy is that planes lock their flight-deck doors and activate the 'please fasten seat belts' signs when 290 km away from Israel," one Israeli security source said.
"It's a precaution against hijackers storming the cockpit in the final approach, given the current terrorist threat level," the source said, adding that previously it was up to the airlines to decide when to ask passengers to remain seated.
The Transport Ministry had no immediate comment.
Israel has dramatically stepped up security measures since Imad Mughniyah, Hezbollah's military mastermind, died in a Damascus car bombing last week. Hezbollah and its patron Iran blamed Israel for the killing, though Israel denied involvement.
The new Israeli aviation security standards may remain in force even if Hezbollah's threats of reprisals are not being borne out and the recent alert level is lowered, sources said.
Israel last year began requiring that all pilots who fly to its airports use the Security Code System (SCS), a local invention designed to ensure any plane commandeered for an al Qaeda-style ramming attack is spotted and intercepted in time.
On most flights, which approach Israel from the west, pilots equipped with the SCS must enter a personalized, technologically secured code when 290 km out, so that air traffic controllers in Tel Aviv know the cockpit is in the right hands.
Aviation experts have suggested that hijackers could wait for SCS compliance to have been established before striking. Keeping passengers seated until landing would help diminish such a threat, an Israeli security source said.
"The new regulations are definitely linked to our introduction of the SCS," the source said.
Since the al Qaeda attacks of September 11, 2001, the United States has instituted mandatory pre-landing seating regulations for flights to some of its airports. There are also U.S. rules against incoming passengers congregating in plane aisles.
Nasrallah: Lebanese agents planning new war with Israel within months
By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said Friday that operatives within Lebanon are planning a new war with Israel in coming months.
Nasrallah, who made a speech in honor of the "Islamic Resistance Week," maintained that activists from his organization are ready for battle against the Israel Defense Forces and will fight the IDF soldiers "in every wadi" in ways they haven't fought in the past.
The Hezbollah chief spoke at a rally in front of thousands who came to commemorate Imad Mughniyah's death in a car bombing in Damascus on Feb. 12. He also spoke about the 1992 targeted killing of the former director- general of Hezbollah, Abbas Moussawi.
Advertisement
"No one can protect the entire Israeli home front from our missiles," he said. "If they think of entering the south, to any valley, any hill, I swear you (Israelis) will carry your tanks and soldiers and your entire army will collapse under the feet of Imad Moughinyah," Nasrallah said
"I swear to you Haj Imad, your blood will not go to waste," Nasrallah
"We will defend ourselves the way we choose, at the time we choose, in the place we choose... With our will and bravery we will defend ourselves and our blood," he said.
At time of his death, Moughniyah was the commander of Hezbollah's guerrilla army.
But he had been on the United States' most wanted list and hunted by the Mossad for two decades for his role in a string of kidnappings, hijackings and attacks against Western and Israeli targets that killed hundreds in the 1980s and early 1990s.
"Destroying Israel is an inevitable outcome, a historic law, a divine doctrine," he said. "When Israel won't have an army it won't survive, and that's what I said about Mughniyah's blood leading to the elimination of Israel."
He maintained that Hezbollah is waging an "open war" with Israel, emphasizing that "the war is open since 1948, before I was born."
Nasrallah said that Syria is responsible for investigating the Mughniyah's assasination, and updating the Shiite organization with its findings.
He maintained that the investigation strengthened his view that Israel stands behind the assassination, praising Mughniyah's involvement in the kidnapping of Israeli businessman Elhanan Tennenbaum and forcing Israel to leave Lebanon in the year 2000.
Israel flights taking extra precautions due to Hezbollah hijacking threats
Israel is requiring that passengers on all incoming flights be confined to their seats in the half-hour before landing as part of heightened precautions against hijacking, aviation security sources said on Friday.
They said the Transport Ministry order, issued to local and foreign airlines on Wednesday, cited threats by Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas to avenge the February 12 assassination of their operations chief by waging "open war" against Israel.
"Our new policy is that planes lock their flight-deck doors and activate the 'please fasten seat belts' signs when 290 km away from Israel," one Israeli security source said.
"It's a precaution against hijackers storming the cockpit in the final approach, given the current terrorist threat level," the source said, adding that previously it was up to the airlines to decide when to ask passengers to remain seated.
The Transport Ministry had no immediate comment.
Israel has dramatically stepped up security measures since Imad Mughniyah, Hezbollah's military mastermind, died in a Damascus car bombing last week. Hezbollah and its patron Iran blamed Israel for the killing, though Israel denied involvement.
The new Israeli aviation security standards may remain in force even if Hezbollah's threats of reprisals are not being borne out and the recent alert level is lowered, sources said.
Israel last year began requiring that all pilots who fly to its airports use the Security Code System (SCS), a local invention designed to ensure any plane commandeered for an al Qaeda-style ramming attack is spotted and intercepted in time.
On most flights, which approach Israel from the west, pilots equipped with the SCS must enter a personalized, technologically secured code when 290 km out, so that air traffic controllers in Tel Aviv know the cockpit is in the right hands.
Aviation experts have suggested that hijackers could wait for SCS compliance to have been established before striking. Keeping passengers seated until landing would help diminish such a threat, an Israeli security source said.
"The new regulations are definitely linked to our introduction of the SCS," the source said.
Since the al Qaeda attacks of September 11, 2001, the United States has instituted mandatory pre-landing seating regulations for flights to some of its airports. There are also U.S. rules against incoming passengers congregating in plane aisles.