Hezbollah chief says nowhere in Israel will be spared in case of outright war

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah warned on Wednesday that “no place” in Israel would be spared in the event of an outright war against the Lebanese group, and threatened Cyprus if it opened its airports to Israel.

“The enemy knows very well that we have prepared for the worst … and that no place … will spare our missiles,” Nasrallah said in a televised address.

Israel should expect us “on land, sea and air,” he said.

“The enemy really fears that the resistance will enter the Galilee” in northern Israel, he said, adding that this was possible “in the context of a war that could be imposed on Lebanon.”

Israel and Hezbollah, a powerful Lebanese movement linked to Hamas, have exchanged cross-border fire almost daily since the Palestinian militant group’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which sparked the war in the Gaza Strip.

Exchanges between the enemies, who last waged war in 2006, have escalated in recent weeks, with the Israeli military saying on Tuesday that “operational plans for an offensive in Lebanon had been approved and validated.”

Previously, Secretary of State Israel Katz had warned of the destruction of Hezbollah in an ‘all-out war’.

Nasrallah said his Iran-backed group had been informed that Israel could use airports and bases in Cyprus if Hezbollah attacked Israeli airports.

Cyprus, a member of the European Union, has good relations with Israel and Lebanon and is close to the coasts of both countries.

“Opening Cypriot airports and bases to the Israeli enemy to target Lebanon would mean that the Cypriot government is part of the war, and the resistance will deal with it as part of the war,” Nasrallah threatened.

Britain has also retained sovereign control over two base areas in its former colony Cyprus, under the terms of the treaties that granted the island independence in 1960.

‘New weapons’

Nasrallah’s statements came a day after the US envoy Amos Hochstein – who brokered a maritime border deal between Israel and Lebanon in 2022 – called for “urgent” de-escalation during a visit to Lebanon.

During his regional tour, he also met with senior officials in Israel.

“Everything the enemy says and what the mediators convey, including the threats of war against Lebanon… this does not scare us,” Nasrallah said.

On Tuesday, Hezbollah released a nine-minute-plus video showing aerial footage allegedly taken by the movement over northern Israel, including what it says are sensitive military, defense and energy facilities and infrastructure in the city and port of Haifa.

Nasrallah said the footage was captured by a drone that flew “for long hours” over Haifa port.

He also warned that his group had only used “some of” its weapons since October.

“We have acquired new weapons,” Nasrallah said, without elaborating.

“We have developed some of our weapons… and others we are keeping for the coming days,” he said.

“Years ago we talked about 100,000 fighters… today we have far exceeded that number,” Nasrallah added.

“The resistance has more manpower than it needs… even in the worst conditions,” he said.

Hezbollah claimed several attacks on Israeli forces and positions in northern Israel on Wednesday and announced the deaths of four of its fighters.

The cross-border violence has killed at least 478 people in Lebanon, most of them fighters, but also 93 civilians, a report said. AFP count.

Israeli authorities say at least 15 soldiers and 11 civilians have been killed in the north of the country.