Hezbollah: Israel is a cardboard state

Northern Commander Gadi Eisenkot's somewhat intemperate remarks about what Israel would do if Hezbollah starts another war were greeted with equally intemperate remarks by Hezbollah, which has evidently branched out into the West Bank. Arabs are convinced, or make believe they are convinced, that Israel is looking to start a war in the north to avenge the poor results of the Second Lebanon War.

 

Hizbullah says Israel a cardboard state

In interview with UAE newspaper, senior Lebanese organization member declares Jewish state 'will be destroyed by resistance fighters.' Responding to Northern Command chief's threats, he says 'Israel is frustrated over internal problems and is incapable of launching a new war'

 

Roee Nahmias
Published:  10.05.08, 09:28 / Israel News

 

Northern Command Chief Gadi Eisenkot's recent declarations in a Yedioth Ahronoth interview, that the Israel Defense Forces would respond in a disproportionate manner against villages from which Hizbullah fires missiles into Israel, have apparently not caused panic in the Lebanese organization.

A senior group member responded to the statements with contempt, saying he did not fear Israel's threats.
 
In an interview published Sunday in the United Arab Emirates-based al-Ittihad newspaper, the Hizbullah member said his organization was on the alert. He referred to Israel as "a cardboard country which will be destroyed by the resistance fighters, who achieved the grand victory against the entity robbing Palestine's land in the years 2000 and 2006."

 

He added that his oganization dose not believe Israel will launch an attack against Lebanon. "Israel is frustrated by many internal problems and is incapable of launching a new war against Lebanon," he said.

He went on to say that Major-General Eisenkot's remarks were a "media war."

The senior Hizbullah member repeated remarks made by his leader, Hassan Nasrallah, that whether Israel send five or eight divisions to Lebanon – they will all be destroyed.

 

Eisenkot told Yedioth Ahronoth that the next war, if and when it breaks out, must be determined fast, forcefully, and without being concerned about the global public opinion.

"We have the ability to do this. I have great power in relation to what we had before. I have no excuse not to fulfill the goals I am tasked with," he said.

"Hizbullah understand very well that firing from villages will lead to their destruction. Before Nasrallah issues an order to fire at Israel, he will have to think 30 times if he wants to destroy his basis of support in the villages. It's not a theoretic thing with him. The possibility of hurting the population is Nasrallah's main restraint and the reason for the calm in the past two years."

He noted that Israel's armament scope has grown hundredfold since the Second Lebanon War, more than two years ago.

Hizbullah brigades in Palestine?
The London-based Arabic-language al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper reported Sunday that a new Palestinian organization, "The Hizbullah Brigades in Palestine," has announced its establishment.

  
According to a statement issued by the group, its members are dissidents of other Palestinian organizations aimed at "fighting the occupation." The organization claims to be a Sunni movement with no ties to Lebanon's Hizbullah, saying its goal is "jihad in the name of Allah and a war on the enemies of Islam."

The organization also said it will work "for the national Palestinian interest." The newspaper noted that the reliability of the statement could not be determined.