Hezbollah Calls for Participation in Palestinian IntifadaThe chief of Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah, or Party of God, has called for a participation in the Palestinian intifada (uprising) against Israeli occupation, the local newspaper As Safir reported on Monday.Addressing a gathering in a south Lebanese village on Sunday, Hassan Nasrallah, secretary general of the Hezbollah, praised Thursday's Palestinian suicide bombing attack in central Jerusalem, which killed 15 Israelis and injured about 100 others. He claimed that the Jewish state was helpless in the face of suicide attacks, stressing that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon would soon acknowledge this fact. Nasrallah said that the escalating Palestinian-Israeli confrontation would eventually force Hezbollah to join the battle against Israel in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. "With the development of events inside Palestine, we are getting closer to the challenge that will put us into the intifada against Israelis," he added. He called on Hezbollah members to be ready to participate in the Jihad (holy war) in the occupied Palestinian lands. However, Nasrallah has not revealed the time and the way the organization would join the battle against Israelis. Meanwhile, Nasrallah reiterated that Hezbollah will be very cautious, "because the current confrontation can not afford any mistake of timing and strategy." Nasrallah was re-elected last Thursday as Hezbollah's secretary general for another three years of tenure. He has been elected as the chief of the organization for three times in a row since 1992. The Syrian and Iranian-backed Hezbollah spearheaded resistance against Israeli occupation in south Lebanon, forcing the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon in May 2000, ending its 22-year occupation. Hezbollah vows to continue its fighting against Israel as long as it holds Arab lands. |
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