Hezbollah Reiterates Rights to Defend Lebanese TerritoryLebanese resistance group Hezbollah, or Party of God, has reiterated its rights to defend Lebanese territory and strike back any aggressions, the official NNA news agency reported on Monday.Hassan Nasrallah, secretary-general of the Hezbollah, said that Lebanon "has the right to defend its land and win the release of the Lebanese who are still being held in Israeli prisons." He said Israel's threat to Syria, Iran and Lebanon is "a hackneyed theme," adding that "almost every Israeli leader said the same words." He was referring to the threats Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon made to Syria, Iran and Lebanon on Friday over allegations by Israeli media that Iran has sent to Hezbollah via Syria long range missiles, which could hit the cities in central Israel. The Hezbollah chief scoffed Sharon's intimidation, saying that Hezbollah would neither confirm nor deny if it possesses the missiles. Nasrallah said "Part of our territory is still under Israeli occupation, some of our brothers are still in Israeli jails and Lebanon's security, safety and water resources are still in danger." He stressed that "it is our right to defend each grain of soil and each drop of water." "It is ridiculous that Israel, which has nuclear and mass- destructive weapons and advanced American planes, complained that we have rifles, mortars and missiles with the range of dozens of kilometers," he added. The Iranian and Syrian-backed Hezbollah had spearheaded Lebanese resistance against Israeli aggression of its southern part during the past decades. Israel pulled out in May last year after 22 years of occupation there, under pressure from Lebanese guerrillas and the international community. |
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