After days of fierce clashes between Hezbollah and Israel, Lebanese militia leader Hassan Nasrallah warned on Wednesday that “there will be nowhere to hide our missiles and drones” in the event of an all-out war. He also threatened Cyprus with retaliatory action if the country allowed Israel to use its airports and bases in an all-out conflict.
“The enemy knows very well that we are ready for the hardest days and they know what they will face,” Nasrallah said. “If war breaks out, the resistance will fight without constraints, rules or restrictions.”
Cyprus President Nicos Christodoulides responded to the threat, saying the country “Definitely not involved in any way,” Comments on social media.
In his first public remarks amid the latest outbreak of violence on Lebanon’s border with Israel, Nasrallah said Hezbollah, which has close ties to Iran, did not want a wider conflict but stressed that the group was ready for war and had used only a small portion of its weapons so far. Nasrallah said Hezbollah could launch precision strikes against “a row of targets” if needed.
“The enemy knows we will attack by land, air and sea,” he said.
More than 100 civilians have been killed and more than 150,000 displaced in Israel and Lebanon since Hezbollah began exchanging fire with Israeli forces following a Hamas-led assault on Israel on Oct. 7. But the cross-border fighting in recent weeks has been some of the most intense yet, raising fears of a renewed war front as Israel continues its offensive in the Gaza Strip.
Western diplomats have sought to defuse tensions, meeting with Lebanese and Israeli officials to head off all-out war, but the Israeli military said on Tuesday it had approved operational plans for a potential offensive on Lebanon, without specifying when or if they would be carried out. Israel invaded Lebanon in 1978, 1982 and 2006, each time to repel militants who attacked across the border.
