Not too long ago, Hizbullah was regarded as a guerilla army, referred to by some as militiamen. Today however, Hizbullah has been permitted to arm itself and becoming a formidable military threat to the stability of the region, particularly for Israel and its residents.

In his latest diatribe, Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah announced that if Israel attempts to impose a naval embargo in the next military conflict, then Jerusalem must realize that every ship and vessel traveling the regional waters can and will become a target for Hizbullah missiles.

He vowed that if Lebanon’s waterway is shut by Israel, any and all vessels heading to Israel will be targeted, including military, civilian and commercial ships. Israeli experts realize that today, Hizbullah has a supply of missiles capable of making good on this threat.

Referring to Israel’s coast as the “Coast of Palestine”, Nasrallah adds that when the world sees how the ships are destroyed the message will be a clear one that no one will again dare to attempt to place an embargo on Lebanon’s coast.

Nasrallah made his remarks during an event marking the 10th anniversary of Israel’s unilateral retreat from the security zone in S. Lebanon.

Hizbullah has been arming itself for years, with the support and encouragement of Syria and Iran. During Shaul Mofaz’s tenure as defense minister, he continued to ignore warning messages of the ongoing Hizbullah buildup, playing down letters and messages from IDF reservists patrolling Israel’s northern border. Mofaz is viewed by many as the person primarily responsible for permitting Hizbullah to fortify itself for years without any Israeli intervention.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)