New Israel-Hezbollah war unlikely

Hezbollah has dismissed the speculations that another conflict between Israel and the Lebanese resistance movement is in the offing. 
While Israeli security officials claim that Hezbollah still seeks to attack Jews outside Israel, The movement's deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem said on Monday that a war between the two sides was unlikely in a near future. 
"Hezbollah has repeatedly blamed Israel for the death of Imad Mughniyeh, something that increases the threat of terror against Israeli targets abroad," the Israeli Counter Terrorism Bureau said in a statement Monday. 
The alleged threat has triggered Tel Aviv to call for further security measures ahead of the Jewish holiday of Passover. 
Mughniyeh was killed in a February 2008 car bombing in Damascus. While Israel denies any involvement in the attack Hezbollah says it has evidence to proof Israeli spy agency's role in the assassination. 
Sheikh Qassem also welcomed a change in Britain's tone toward the movement. 
"We welcome this British revision and perhaps there will be meetings in the coming days," he told Reuters. 
British Minister of Foreign Office Bill Rammell had earlier said that his country was mulling over reconsidering its policy toward Hezbollah, hinting at possible dialogue with the movement. 
"There is no request for a meeting but we expect this to happen soon," the Hezbollah official said. 
The change in Britain's stance, however, has sparked outrage among Israeli officials with the Israeli Foreign Ministry condemning the British minister's remarks.

Israeli soldier opens fire on Hezbollah mural

An Israeli soldier has opened fire on a Hezbollah mural painted on a wall near the entrance of the Aadaisseh village in southern Lebanon. 

"A soldier got out of his vehicle and deliberately fired at the wall bearing the inscriptions," some 20 meters (yards) from the border, a Lebanese Army spokesman told AFP on Tuesday. 

He said five bullets had hit the inscription which shows the "hand of resistance", a reference to the "divine victory" Hezbollah achieved over Israel during the 33-day war Tel Aviv waged on southern Lebanon. 

Israel launched an offensive against Lebanon to destroy the Hezbollah resistance power in the summer of 2006; it however was forced to eventually leave the region without achieving any of its objectives. 

A statement issued by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) described the incident as a violation of UN resolution 1701 which ended the 2006 war. 

Meanwhile, an Israeli army spokeswoman said "a soldier mistakenly fired his rifle" and that the military was "investigating the incident in order to prevent similar events in the future."

Hobballah confirms the opposition dropped any thought of returning to the so-called quadpartite alliance

Loyalty to the Resistance bloc, MP Hassan Hoballah, confirmed that he is not afraid of election money in the south, and pointed out that such money, spread throughout Lebanon now, forms a bad phenomenon that poses thousands of question marks, "because, how can a team that presents itself as being able to fairly represent the people, work on purchasing their conscience?" 
Hobballah also pointed out that election money is tantamount to "falsification of the truth about public representation," clarifying that "those who want to offer themselves to manage the nation's affairs and represent the Lebanese people, should not trick them to buy their conscience by heaping funds upon them." 
He stressed that South Lebanon lived out the occupation and the resistance phase, and so the people of the South can not be mislead or deceived, since they have experienced the resistance and evidently see who defends their interests. 
Hobballah emphasized that the opposition enters the parliamentary elections based on the political alliance that has existed between all the opposition forces, adding that this political alliance has become an electoral alliance. "Therefore, we have dropped any thinking of going back to the so-called Quad-partite alliance, on which they (former partners in last elections) turned and later (after the elections) denied." 
He revealed that the opposition goes into the elections on the grounds that it is one in all of Lebanon, hence "What concerns in Tyre concerns me in Batroun also concerns me in Matn, the north and in all of Lebanon."

Hezbollah ready to repel Israeli attack

Hezbollah says while it is fully prepared to respond to any Israeli aggression, it is not seeking to wage war in the region. 
In an interview with the French paper Le Figaro, Hezbollah Deputy Leader Sheikh Naim Qassem said the movement is "prepared" to any such conflict with Israel. 
"But I do not believe that under the current circumstances Israel has an interest in waging another war in Lebanon," he said. 
The daily quoted the Sheikh as saying that "Israel's defeat" in its recent war against the Gaza Strip indicates that it is not capable of launching a new front in the region. 
"The offensive in Gaza proved that the Israeli army has not drawn any lessons from the 2006 war (in Lebanon), and it remains incapable of translating its military force into diplomatic achievements." 
Israel launched an aggression against Lebanon in summer 2006. The conflict lasted for 33 days and resulted in a heavy defeat for Tel Aviv. 
"Israel's defeat -- both militarily and psychologically -- is clear. The war in 2006 proved once again the need for armed resistance," the Sheikh told Le Figaro. 
Tel Aviv faced another regional defeat when it failed to "topple" Hamasduring its three week offensive against Gaza. The onslaught claimed the lives of more than 1,300 people including women and children in the coastal strip. 
Regarding the assassination of Hezbollah's top commander Imad Mugniyah in Damascus, Qassem reiterated to avenge, saying "We vowed to respond. It is our right." 
While Tel Aviv denies any involvement in the February 12 assassination, the Hezbollah leader said the movement has "no doubt" that Israel is behind the assassination. 
"(The response) will not warrant a declaration of war on Israel's part, but in any case Israel does not need any excuse to initiate hostile acts," he concluded.

Sayyed Amin Sayyed: Who`s our PM? Is it Fouad Saniora or Michelle Sisson?

The head of Hizbullah's political council Sayyed Ibrahim Amin Sayyed raised the issue on Friday during a ceremony held in the southern suburb of Beirut to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in Iran.
Sayyed Ibrahim Amin Sayyed wondered who Lebanon's acting Prime Minister was. "Who's our acting PM? Is it Fouad Saniora or Michelle Sisson?" Sayyed asked.
His eminence warned against the potential return of the (US backed) March 14 forces alongside the US administration to the previous policy of adopting the American tutelage in the Lebanese internal affairs. View

Hizbullah`s choice of resistance & development are inseparable

Deputy Secretary General of Hizbullah Sheikh Naim Qassem said that the act of resistance could not be separated from development or independence. He said that the upcoming parliamentary elections were "a political choice rather than a choice of persons," adding that "our choice is resistance and development." During a ceremony on Thursday in Dahiyeh, Qassem said that choosing development without resistance, which had been previously done, only led Lebanon into unending debts, "whereas the Resistance forced all the countries to perceive Lebanon as an equal," he said.Qassem said that Hizbullah supported the nation, the state and coexistence. He said that such a Lebanon was possible, noting that the world was fascinated by the Memorandum of Understanding between Hizbullah and the Free Patriotic Movement, because at one point they were considered complete opposites. He questioned how the US was setting conditions, in reference to Wednesday's visit of Chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Senator John Kerry to Lebanon. Qassem said, "If the Democrats wanted to deal with the region, let them know that they are not dealing with followers, and let them refrain from setting their own conditions, because we have our own [conditions on their policies].""We want the US to stop interfering in our elections, to stop supporting the criminal Zionists, to stop conspiring against our country and people, and to stop all the crimes [it commits with] its policies and positions. Then we will see what we should do: Do we talk to them or not? Do we accept [their conditions] or not?" he said.Qassem also said that US demands for change only applied to "followers... For us, either you deal with us as people of the land, of right and pride, or get out of our political [arena]. Otherwise, we will prove to you what we have proved [to "Israel"] on the battleground," he said.

Resistance Has Right to Possess and Use Anti-Aircraft Weapons

Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah declared on Monday that "Israel is not anymore as mighty as it used to be and the resistance is not as weak as it used to be." His eminence noted that the choice of concluding a settlement with the Zionist enemy proved its failure.
Sayyed Nasrallah is speaking, at this moment, during a ceremony organized by Hezbollah in the Sayyed al-Shouhadaa complex at the southern suburb of Beirut to mark the day of "loyalty to martyrs" and remember the sacrifices made by the Resistance martyrs and heroes, mainly the Islamic Resistance "martyrs' Sheikh" Ragheb Harb, the "martyrs' Sayyed" Abbas Moussaoui and Imad Moghniyyeh (Hajj Redwan). 
Sayyed Nasrallah started his speech by recognizing and honoring the sacrifices paid by the Resistance's martyrs and heroes for the interest of Lebanon, the whole Lebanon. "The blood of the Martyrs has returned the citizens of Marjayoun, Hasbaya, Shebaa and Bint Jbeil to their lands and homes without differentiating between those who follow the loyalty or the opposition, and with all the pride and dignity," his eminence recalled, noting that "it's therefore our duty to appreciate those martyrs and highly value their sacrifices."
SAYYED NASRALLAH: SETTLEMENT OPTION IS FIASCO
Sayyed Nasrallah then tackled the relation with the Zionist enemy, noting that Lebanon was split over major political choices. "There are three options in this regard. The first one isn't actually a choice since it stimulates approving the enemy's existence and thus, cooperating with the enemy," his eminence said, noting at the same time that this option couldn't be a "popular" one in Lebanon and the Arab world. "However, there are spies," his eminence said, adding that there are Israeli agents among Arabs, Lebanese and Palestinians.
"The second option was to conclude a settlement with the enemy," the Resistance leader pointed out. "It means that you offer the enemy some concessions in order to get some of the extorted legal rights," his eminence explained. "However, this choice proved its failure and fiasco."
While pointing that "the more concessions the Arabs give, the more arrogant Israel becomes," Sayyed Nasrallah noted that the third option rejects settlement with the enemy. "It is the resistance option," his eminence emphasized. "Why do you want to sacrifice the Resistance for free?" Sayyed Nasrallah asked those who reject this option. "As long as the Arabs grant Israel more concessions, then the enemy will become even fiercer and will not honor its past commitments," Sayyed Nasrallah noted.
SAYYED NASRALLAH: ALL ISRAELI LEADERS WERE DEFEATED IN LEBANON 
"The Kuwait summit clearly indicates that the Arab peace initiative will not survive any longer," Hezbollah Secretary General said. "Yet, before this summit, the Israeli answer to the Arab sticking to the Arab initiative was more extremism. The answer also came out during the Israeli elections." Sayyed Nasrallah concluded that compromise with the enemy means conceding territories, the Quds, our security, and water in return for some of our seized lands, some prisoners and a small numbers of refugees.
The Resistance leader said that the right-wing victory in the Israeli elections correctly reflects its image. However, his eminence emphasized that there was no difference between Labor, Likud, and Kadima regarding their attitudes towards Palestinians and Arabs, stressing that all Zionist parties were the same.
However, Sayyed Nasrallah called on everyone not to worry a lot due to the results of the Israeli elections. "All the Israeli leaders who threaten us were defeated in Lebanon," his eminence recalled, noting that there was no difference between the Israeli parties. "However, Israel is not as mighty as it used to be and the resistance is not as weak as it used to be," the Resistance leader emphasized.
Recalling the Israeli 22-day offensive against the Palestinian people in the Gaza strip, Sayyed Nasrallah noted that the main lesson learned from the Gaza war was that the Israeli army is not capable of winning a battle. The Israelis did not try to storm residential areas in the Gaza strip because they were "scared of facing the resistance," his eminence emphasized.
Sayyed Nasrallah addressed the Israeli upcoming government warning against any attempt to "invade" Lebanon once again. "The students of Hajj Redwan, Sayyed Abbas Moussawi and Sheikh Ragheb Harb will destroy the Israeli Army tanks in case it tried to invade any part of Lebanon," his eminence vowed.
SAYYED NASRALLAH: WE HAVE RIGHT TO POSSESS ANTI-AIRCRAFT WEAPONS AND USE THEM
Meanwhile, Hezbollah Secretary General refused to admit or deny what is said about the Resistance's acquiring of arms. "Of course, I do not admit nor deny what is said about the Resistance's acquiring of defense air weapons," the Resistance leader said.
"Israel threatens and sends messages through diplomats saying that if you possessed anti-aircraft weapons you will pay the price or if you shoot down Israeli planes you will pay the price," Sayyed Nasrallah noted. "This is the Israeli impudence and insolence," his eminence emphasized.
"We have the right to acquire any kind of weaponry, including the anti-aircraft weapons, and we have the right to use it," Sayyed Nasrallah declared. "It is our right to possess any weapons, including Air Defense, to defend our land," his eminence explained.
SAYYED NASRALLAH: ISRAELIS SCARED OF HAJJ REDWAN MORE THAN EVER
Meanwhile, Hezbollah Secretary General renewed his pledge to retaliate the assassination of Islamic Resistance top commander Imad Moghniyyeh (Hajj Redwan). However, Sayyed Nasrallah noted that the Resistance's great martyr has scared the Israelis following his assassination more than ever. 
"Imad Moghniyyeh will continue to hunt the Israelis wherever they go, day and night," Sayyed Nasrallah vowed. His eminence stressed that he was not concerned with clarifying things concerning the revenge. "Some of those who wrote during this month about the issue were ambiguous. They ask about the reasons of the delay in Hezbollah's retaliation and at the same time warn that any act could plunge the country into a rejected war," Sayyed Nasrallah noted. "Anyway, I don't have to repeat the pledge but we promised and we will fulfill our promise of course," Sayyed Nasrallah vowed.
SAYYED NASRALLAH CALLS ON NATION TO SUPPORT RESISTANCE
Before turning to the local affairs, the Resistance leader didn't forget to urge the whole nation to support the resistance option in confronting the Zionist enemy. His eminence called on Arab and Islamic governments, including those who might have negotiated with the enemy, to embrace the Resistance. "It's wrong to set the Resistance factions accountable because the Resistance is no doubt a strength for the nation," Sayyed Nasrallah emphasized.
His eminence, meanwhile, renewed his support to all forms of dialogue and to the Palestinian-Palestinian reconcliation. Sayyed Nasrallah also welcomed any inter-Arab reconciliation, especially between Saudi Arabia and Syria. "We support any kind of Palestinian reconciliation, and we express our support of any kind of Arab rapprochement; especially between Saudi Arabia and Syria," his eminence said.
YASSER ABBAS MOUSSAWI VOWS TO CONTINUE MARTYRS' PATH
The Loyalty to Martyrs' ceremony has started with the martyrs' families' word that was delivered by Yasser Moussaoui, the son of martyr Sayyed Abbas Moussaoui, on behalf of his family, the family of Hajj Redwan and the family of Sheikh Ragheb Harb. 
Moussaoui vowed to continue the martyrs' path until achieving complete victory or joining the procession of martyrs. He stressed that the Resistance was firm and solid, noting that this firmness would continue until achieving complete victory "no matter how many sacrifices should be paid to reach this goal." He stressed that the 27 years of the life of the Islamic Resistance have proved that the force which is based on the belief in God is the best means to liberate the land from the occupation. He concluded by calling on Muslims and Arabs to stop betting on a fake "peace."

Hezbollah: Israel Remains Sole Enemy of Lebanon

Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem stressed on Friday that it was unacceptable to violate people's privacy and freedom, or wiretap their calls under the pretense of confronting terrorism. He called for holding those who violated the law to account.
Speaking in a commemoration in Beirut's southern suburb, Sheikh Qassem emphasized that the Zionist entity remains the only enemy of Lebanon, noting that whoever fabricates another enemy was serving Israel.
His eminence said that repeatedly talking about the events that preceded the Doha Accord for electoral purposes would fail, because this issue would not increase the number of the March 14 alliance's supporters before the upcoming parliamentary elections nor would it change its results or the equation. 
Meanwhile, Sheikh Qassem called on the cabinet to approve the 2009 draft budget as soon as possible and suggested the cancellation of all funds and councils only when solutions have been decided.