Hezbollah’s chief threatened to bomb Israel’s chemical works in Haifa, using it as a “nuclear bomb” with the aim to kill thousands of civilians.
By: Aryeh Savir, World Israel News
Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon. (AP/Mohammed Zaatari)
Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah threatened on Tuesday to use Israel’s chemical storage facilities against it as a “nuclear bomb” in the event of a future conflict with the Jewish State.
Speaking during Hezbollah’s annual ceremonies for its commanders that were reportedly killed by Israel, and mostly addressing the volatile situation in the Middle East and specifically Syria, Nasrallah declared “that Hezbollah is a threat to the Zionist project and ambitions,” and that Israel perceives Hezbollah as “a major risk,” claiming that Israel “will work to remove this danger mainly through a full-scale war, or through surrounding the risk [Hezbollah] politically, financially” and by assassinating Hezbollah’s leaders and hindering their supply routes “in order to isolate and weaken” the Iranian-backed terror organization.
“The Zionists and allies are working on converting Hezbollah from a terrorist organization to a criminal group, and to accuse it of drug trafficking, money laundering, killing of children and raping women,” he said, relating to recent action taken by the US government against Hezbollah’s international drug operation to fund its terrorism, during which several Hezbollah operatives were arrested.
“Apparently, this psychological war and the talk of a third Lebanon war will not work with us. We will not retreat, will never surrender, will never be weakened, and we will continue our military readiness,” Nasrallah threatened.
He claimed that “the Zionist entity” does not need excuses to launch a war on Lebanon to target Hezbollah, while emphasizing that the “resistance” is able to “prevent the Zionist victory.”
Nasrallah then threatened Israel’s chemical works in the northern city of Haifa, noting that Lebanon possesses what he termed as “a nuclear bomb” in the form of a Hezbollah attack against the ammonia containers, which contain more than 15 thousand tons of gas.
“This would be exactly as a nuclear bomb, and we can say that Lebanon today has a nuclear bomb, seeing as any rocket that might hit these tanks is capable of creating a nuclear bomb effect,” he threatened.
Hezbollah launched several rocket attacks on Haifa during the Second Lebanon War in 2006, but caused no damage on such a colossal scale.
Hours after Nasrallah issued the explicit threat to strike Haifa, Environmental Protection Minister Avi Gabbai said he has committed his ministry to having the ammonia storage facilities moved south to the Negev desert.
The Haifa municipality said that while the country does not need to conduct its business according to Nasrallah’s speeches, they “are happy he has helped to put the issue on the agenda,” saying they would continue to work to have the dangerous installation removed.