Hezbollah’s Nasrallah: When Israel kills one of our fighters, we’ll kill one of theirs
Only by killing an Israeli solider will Hezbollah be satisfied that deterrence has been reestablished, ending tensions on Israel’s northern border, the Lebanese terror group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah says.
“I want to be more clear than at any previous time: when Israel kills one of our fighters, we will kill one of your soldiers,” Nasrallah says in a televised speech to mark the holiday of Ashura.
Tensions have been rising between Hezbollah and Israel since Israel reportedly killed Hezbollah commander Ali Kamel Mohsen in a July 20 airstrike close to the Damascus airport. In general, Israel does not comment on specific strikes in Syria, although they have acknowledged that Israeli forces do conduct such airstrikes.
Nasrallah says that Israel is hoping to allow for a simple exchange of fire which would cause material damage on both and end the escalation.
“This is the equation. We’re not going to blast sites and iron fences and tanks. [The enemy] has all the money in the world to replace them. That is not what creates deterrence with Israel,” he says.
According to Nasrallah, Hezbollah fighters operating along the border fence in previous weeks had refrained targeting Israeli drones and materiel as they searched for an Israeli soldier to kill.
“Israel knows that we were not looking for some device to destroy. We were looking for a soldier to kill,” Nasrallah adds. “So he hid all of his soldiers. Like mice, hiding.”
“The question is a question of battlefield. The question is a question of time. And we are not in a hurry,” he warns.
— Aaron Boxerman