The Lebanese Hizbollah movement warned Israel Thursday that it would strike the Jewish state if it escalates attacks on Lebanon, even as US, Russian and European peace envoys flocked to Beirut in search for a way out of the regional impasse, reported The Daily Star.
“Hizbollah ’s reply will go beyond the Shabaa Farms and will eventually reach Israel’s northern border,” Hizbollah ’s deputy secretary-general Naim Qassem was quoted as saying in an interview with the French-language weekly Magazine to be published Friday. “All options are open. There are no constraints or taboos as far as we are concerned.”
Qassem said the possibility of a regional war could not be ruled out, even though it did not appear imminent at present.
“The current scenario doesn’t presage an imminent war, but … Sharon’s policy can lead to a war in the region,” he said. “If Israel provokes a war, then it must be held responsible for it. We’re in a defensive position, and we can’t stand still in the face of Israeli aggression.”
Hizbollah , he said, would proceed with its operations until the Shabaa Farms were liberated.
“Nothing is obstructing Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, and all those who follow the diplomatic channel toward liberating Shabaa, from doing their job,” Qassem said, “but as far as we’re concerned, we will proceed with our operations, because past experience showed us that our method is more efficient.”
Concerning Hizbollah ’s ties with Syria, Qassem asserted that neither the timing nor the scale of operations have ever been coordinated with Damascus.
The rhetoric coincided with the separate arrivals of Russian envoy Andrei Vdovin, European envoy Miguel Angel Moratinos, and US Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs William Burns, said the Lebanese paper, which quoted Vdovin as voicing optimism about the simultaneous presence of “so many foreign envoys.”
“This should help prevent dangers … after the events of the recent weeks involving Lebanon, Syria and Israel,” he said after meeting Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hammoud. He added that “no effort should be spared to avoid military escalation.”
Asked if he had any new ideas, Vdovin said his country’s policies “have always focused on securing self-restraint by all parties concerned, and getting the parties to use politics instead of the language of violence.”
As for the Shebaa Farms, Vdovin said only that “we must deploy sufficient political efforts … and get the Syrian and Lebanese peace paths moving.” – Albawaba.com
