Hezbollah’s Nasrallah warns Israel it ‘will see things it has not seen’ since its founding

Nasrallah made his remarks at the end of a three-day military drill by Israel simulating war with Hezbollah.

By David Isaac, World Israel News

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said on Tuesday that Israel’s “home front will see things it has not seen since the establishment of Israel” should war break out between the two sides.

“None can guarantee that ‘combat days’ won’t descend into widespread war. The Israeli home front will see things it has not seen since the establishment of Israel. We follow and are very deliberate in our decisions. We will not accept anything that puts our country in danger,” Nasrallah said in the full quote.

Nasrallah was referring to Israel’s three-day military drill ‘Galilee Rose,’ which wrapped up on Tuesday and was meant to ready it for a possible war with Hezbollah. During the drill, the IDF said it was preparing for various scenarios, including “combat days.” Nasrallah’s comments were intended as a response to the drill.

In reply to IDF Chief-of-Staff Aviv Kochavi’s threat to hit civilian targets if necessary, Nasrallah said, “Do what you want, and so will we.”

“If war is imposed on us, we will fight. If you attack cities, we will attack cities. If you attack villages, we will attack settlements,” Nasrallah said.

Kochavi referred to the fact that Israel may have no choice but to attack civilian areas given Hezbollah’s tactic of using human shields, hiding its men and munitions within residential neighborhoods and villages.

While terror group Hezbollah is a major player in Lebanon and acts as a state-within-a-state, it is doubtful whether Lebanon shares Nasrallah’s “do what you want” attitude.

The Lebanese government in 2019, fearful it would bear the brunt of an Israeli reprisal, swiftly asked France and the U.S. to intervene to calm tensions after Hezbollah fired anti-tank rockets at Israel that September, months before Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz ordered the IDF in July 2020 to target Lebanese infrastructure should the terror group attack.

Israel has fought two wars in Lebanon, first in 1982 and again in 2006.