Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen. (Credit: AFP / File photo)
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen threatened to "take Lebanon back to the Stone Age" and lashed out at Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, calling him "weak" and "hiding like a rat in the cellar," in an interview with Saudi newspaper Elaph published on Sunday.
"Hassan Nasrallah plays tricks because he's weak. He hides like a rat in the cellar," said Cohen. "Hezbollah is a branch of Iran in Lebanon," and the Shiite party has "transformed Lebanon from a prosperous state into a destroyed one, while Israel remains a strong country," he continued.
"Hassan Nasrallah said in 2006 that he didn't know Israel's strength. We suggest he doesn't try it again. Israel can take Lebanon back to the Stone Age," added the Minister, in reference to the 2006 July war that killed 1200 Lebanese, mainly civilians, and 160 Israelis, mainly soldiers.
Asked about the tents set up by Hezbollah on the border with Israel, Cohen said his country "knows how to close its accounts at the right time and resolve what needs to be resolved at the right time. All options are on the table, including diplomatic and military ones."
On the possibility of directly attacking Nasrallah or other leaders of his party, Cohen said he did not wish to give details, "but I want to make it clear that Israel can reach any person, in any place."
Cohen's comments come after an increase in tension between the two countries in recent weeks at the border where several security incidents have been recorded, notably after Israel annexed the northern part of the village of Ghajar.
A few days after Israeli forces fenced off the northern part of Ghajar, Israel and unidentified parties in southern Lebanon exchanged artillery fire. Israeli forces also wounded three Hezbollah members with a stun grenade near the town of Boustan.
Cohen's interview with the Saudi media outlet comes amid Saudi Arabia's efforts to forge ties with Israel at the instigation of the United States, which has been seeking for months to achieve a historic agreement between the two countries in the run-up to the US presidential campaign and Joe Biden's candidacy.