Nasrallah: Hezbollah behind Labbouneh blast

Hezbollah Secretary General, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, on Wednesday said that the Resistance had prior knowledge about Israeli plans to cross Labbouneh region - South Lebanon - last week, making clear that it wasn't a landmine that blew up in the Israeli soldiers, but new bombs that were especially planted by Hezbollah to target two Israeli groups of soldiers. The Hezbollah chief's words came this evening in a televised interview with the pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV network, marking the 7th commemoration of the July 2006 Israeli aggression against Lebanon. "Two Israeli forces entered Labbouneh region which was under the supervision of Resistance fighters. We already knew that Israelis would cross this area, thus we planted explosive devices there," said Nasrallah, who cleaved to the Resistance's right to protect Lebanese territories from all sorts of foreign violations. Several Israeli soldiers were wounded last Wednesday morning by an explosion after they crossed the border into southern Lebanon, the Lebanese Army said. "An Israeli foot patrol crossed the Blue Line, 400 meters into Lebanese territory off the border town of al-Labbouneh," an Army statement said of the blast. Moreover, the Hezbollah leader couldn't help but wonder how some Lebanese factions didn't envisage Israel as an enemy, saying that the Resistance had the full right to act facing enemy violations. He pledged he would do the same to foil future incursions "especially those with specific goals and purposes," he said in reference to Labbouneh operation. "International Security resolution 1701 did not cart-off the resistance's right to defend Lebanon," he added, regretting that the "United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon were giving the blind eye to Israeli violations in Lebanon." As for Lebanese President Michel Sleiman's stance urging the Lebanese Army and United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon to expand investigation into the infiltration of the Israeli forces into Southern Lebanon, Nasrallah described it as "weak". But the Hezbollah leader refused to unveil the nature of the operation that the Israeli soldiers intended to perpetrate on Lebanese territories, and sufficed by saying that it was "not the first violation, but the first of its kind." Responding to the flurry of belligerent rhetoric being launched against Hezbollah by some Lebanese factions, Nasrallah saw that the Resistance "will never be left alone as long as it's in charge of Lebanon's security." "The major problem lies in the fact that Hezbollah is a resistance and bears no intention to change," he said. "If we communicate with Europeans and the U.S. things will change and they will not ask us to hand in our weapons. They want all Arab countries to be heavily armed to spark internal clashes," he added. Nasrallah also disclosed a deal by foreign powers which have offered to accept Hezbollah's possession of arms, provided that it approved to abandon the Palestinian cause. He also made mention of a deal he had refused by Dick Cheney to stop war with Israel. The Hezbollah Secretary General went on to list some of the events that took placed prior, during, and following the July 2006 war with Israel. "When the kidnap of the two Israeli soldiers took place, we were ready on the human and logistic levels for any war. And during the 33 days of war the resistance was not confused of lost on ground and in managing the operation because this was already planned," he said, affirming that Beirut was rescued by Hezbollah, and "not by a political decision" back in 2006. Israel fought a devastating 33-day war against Hezbollah in 2006 that cost the lives of 1,200 people in Lebanon, mainly civilians, and 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers.