Israel would not dare start a war against Lebanon because it knows Hizbollah has boosted its forces since the Jewish state's withdrawal from south Lebanon in May, a Hizbollah official said Friday.
"The Israeli enemy would not have the courage to launch a wide-scale war because it knows the resistance's capabilities were bolstered after the liberation and that Israel's security is threatened more than ever," said Sheikh Nabil Qauk, the militant Shiite group's official for south Lebanon.
"Israel cannot escape the impasse it finds itself through threats of war and military manoeuvers," Qauk told a religious gathering in the village of Maarub, near the southern city of Tyre.
Israel has moved forces to the Lebanese border and stepped up air surveillance over Lebanon following Hizbollah's capture last month of three Israeli soldiers on border patrol.
Hizbollah spearheaded armed opposition to Israel's occupation of south Lebanon, which ended May 24 after 22 years -- TYRE, Lebanon (AFP)
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