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Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah on al-Manar Saturday night
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| By Associated Press July 29, 2006 |
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Hezbollah's leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah threatened more rocket attacks on cities in central Israel and dismissed a new diplomatic effort by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, saying the United States wants the fighting to continue.
Speaking on Hezbollah television, he said Israel has not made a "single military accomplishment" in the fighting. He claimed Israel suffered a "serious defeat" in ground fighting around a Lebanese border town from which troops pulled back on Saturday after a week of heavy battles.
The threat of more attacks deep in to Israel came a day after Hezbollah fired one of the most powerful rockets in its arsenal for the first time, one able to reach the outskirts of Tel Aviv. Friday's rocket strike hit outside the Israeli town of Afula, the furthest rocket strike yet.
"The bombardment of Afula and its military base is the beginning ... Many cities in the center (of Israel) will be targeted in the 'beyond Haifa' if the savage aggression continues on our country, people and villages," Nasrallah said in a speech aired on Hezbollah's Al-Manar television. Hezbollah has said the strike targeted an Israeli military base, but the rockets fell in an empty field.
"When in any Arab-Israeli conflict were two million Israelis forced to flee or enter bomb shelters?" he asked. During the airing of his speech, sirens were heard in Carmiel; three rockets landed in the northern city, but no injuries or damage were reported.
The terrorist leader referred to Israel as a "temporary country," saying "Israel was established as a military state; the army was not established as an army of a country."
'Beginning of the end for Zionist entity'
Nasrallah continued: "It is clear that up to this point the Zionist enemy has not achieved any military objective; not only I say this, but they say this as well, as does the entire world and all the analysts. The destruction of infrastructure and the hurting of civilians is not a military achievement, but a barbaric one."
"So far the enemy has only suffered military defeats, as was the case with the most important of its three Navy vessels off the Lebanese coast -- which was struck. This was also the case during the ground war, when elite Golani Brigade forces were defeated,? he said.
"You could see the amount of damage we have caused them in photos showing soldiers evacuated on stretchers lying on their stomach to hide their chest injuries. The most important loss of the enemy relates to the morale of its leadership and army, as the army is incapable of overcoming a small organization with a strong belief in its cause."
The Hezbollah chief added: ?(Vice Premier Shimon) Peres said 'this is a life or death war for Israel,' and he is right because he knows that if the resistance will come out triumphant this time, the Zionist entity will not have a future. When the (Israeli) nation will begin to lose faith in its army, it will mark the beginning of the end for this entity.?
?The enemy's only option is to pressure Lebanon in the hope that this will lead to political pressure that will thwart our efforts."
Nasrallah dismissed a new diplomatic effort by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who was headed for Israel on Saturday with American proposals for a resolution to the crisis. She was widely expected to come to Lebanon as well, though no stop has been announced.
"Now Ms. Rice is returning to the region to try and impose her conditions again on Lebanon to serve her project, the new Middle East and to serve Israel," he said. He said Israel is ready to stop the fighting, but "the American administration is the one insisting on continuing the aggression against Lebanon."
Nasrallah pledged to cooperate with the Lebanese government, which has presented a peace package that could lead to the eventual disarming of Hezbollah. The guerrilla group's politicians in the government agreed to the package.
Nasrallah did not mention the proposals specifically. But he suggested that Hezbollah would not follow through with disarmament if the government compromises on conditions outlined in the Lebanese proposal.
Most notably, the proposals demand a prisoner swap with Israel and the resolution of Lebanese claims on a patch of land on the border that Israel controls. Israel has ruled out a prisoner swap and has not said whether it would be willing to reconsider its hold on the Chebaa farms area.
"We are keen to cooperate with the government," Nasrallah said.
But "for Lebanon to win the battle, it needs political will no less than the will of the resistance fighters in the field ... The government is required to act in a way that reflects the Lebanese people's steadfastness and unity," he said.
"We have a historic opportunity in Lebanon to liberate every inch of our land, regain of our prisoners and guarantee our national sovereignty, so that our skies, water, land and our people are no longer subject to Zionist violation and aggression," he said.
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