The Secretary-General of the Iranian-proxy Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, surfaced for the first time in two-and-a-half months, in an interview with the Mayadeen Television network, which is affiliated with his organization. According to Nasrallah, the cross-border attack tunnels, which were recently discovered by Israel, were dug by his organization more than 13 years ago, with the aim of conquering the Galilee in a next war with the Jewish state. While the IDF said it discovered six subterranean passage-ways that penetrated northern Israel, the Hezbollah leader claimed that many more tunnels exist and are ready to be used. “Yes, there are tunnels, and the Israelis after long years, discovered a number of those tunnels, it wasn’t a surprise, but what was a surprise is that it took so long to discover them.” / “At least, one of the tunnel that was discovered, in the last couple of weeks, was a tunnel that dates back 13 to 14 years back.”/ “Yes, part of our plan in the next war is to enter into Galilee, but the plans take effect in relation to the course of the war, in war we decide if we go in or not,” Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah Secretary-General.
“All the goals that (Israel’s Prime Minister) Netanyahu put for the Operation Northern Shield failed, he provided us with media and psychological services, and he only achieved one thing, and that there is a number of tunnels that were discovered, and it is not known if more exists, and it is not the end of the world,” Netanyahu said.
The Iranian-backed Lebanese militia leader further claimed that “at any moment” a decision could be made to escalate the situation with Israel. “At any moment, there could be a decision, I do not want to say that there is a decision taken, but at any time a decision could be made about responding differently with the Israeli aggressions on Syria, from Syria and its command and from the axis of resistance,” Netanyahu said.
Meanwhile in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacted to the interview, claiming that the Hezbollah leader was clearly embarrassed by Israel’s achievements against his militia, and is more-so clearly “fearful the lethal striking force of the IDF.” ; “Nasrallah broke his silence yesterday. He is very embarrassed for three reasons: One, because of the great success of our Operation Northern Shield. He and his people put great effort into the surprise weapon of invasive tunnels, including their excavation, in contrast to what he said, in recent years and months. Within six weeks, we completely denied him this weapon. Second, Nasrallah is in a predicament due to financial distress. The policy that we pushed of re-imposing sanctions on Iran, which was clearly and sharply adopted by President Trump, is striking hard at the sources of financing for Iran and its proxies, especially Hezbollah. Third, Nasrallah is in distress due to our determination. Against Nasrallah stands the lethal striking force of the IDF. Believe me; Nasrallah has good reasons not to want to feel the might of our arm,” Netanyahu said.