Hezbollah 'not afraid to retaliate, whatever the cost' against Israel's Baalbeck, Bekaa strikes

Hezbollah's number two, Sheikh Naim Kassem, pledged on Sunday that the party "will not be afraid" to retaliate against Israeli strikes against "civilian" targets, in response to bombardments that have hit Baalbeck and the western Bekaa in particular since last night.

For several weeks now, Israel has been launching increasingly in-depth air raids against Hezbollah positions in Lebanese territory, heightening the threat and risk of open warfare.

On Saturday evening, the Israeli army struck the Baalbeck region, hitting a two-story residential building in Al-Osseira. On Sunday, Israel bombed western Bekaa for the first time since last October and the start of daily clashes between the Shiite party and Israel. The strike on a car in Soueiri killed the Syrian driver.

"Today, the enemy is trying to extend its attacks against civilian targets in Baalbeck, the western Bekaa and elsewhere, and there will be retaliation for each and every one of these strikes," said Kassem during a ceremony in Beirut's southern suburbs. "An hour after the strike in Baalbeck, we retaliated on strategic positions," he recalled. The party had announced overnight that it launched "dozens of Katyusha missiles" against the Israeli bases of Yoav and Kilaa.

According to the statement issued during the night, soldiers from the Golani Brigade, who had returned from Gaza, were training near the Kilaa barracks. The Yoav missile and artillery base and the Kilaa "air and missile defense" base are both located on the occupied Golan Heights, some 15 kilometers from the Lebanese border. This is not the first time they have been targeted.

Hezbollah also announced that it had struck "a building housing Israeli soldiers in the Manara settlement" opposite the Lebanese towns of Houla and Mais al-Jabal (Marjayoun district) at 5:20 p.m., "in retaliation for Zionist attacks on southern villages and civilian homes."

'Whatever the cost'

"We won't be afraid to respond to every attack, whatever the price to be paid or the difficulties," said Kassem, insisting that the party will retaliate against "any attack on civilians or any situation that does not respect the current nature of the confrontation."

"We are ready, we are on the ground and we will not accept that aggressions increase without them paying the price," he added. "You can be sure that this confrontation we are currently waging, despite its high cost, has far fewer consequences than if we waited for the enemy to come to us," he said.

According to him, the fighting in which the pro-Iranian party has been engaged since Oct. 8 "supports Gaza, but also does Lebanon a great service, by making Israel understand that it cannot contemplate invading the country again without encountering opposition."

"There is no distinction between the interests of Palestine and Lebanon. We're facing an expansionist enemy, so it's best not to give [it] a free hand to act against us. We know what we're doing, and everything has been thought through," he said.

Finally, he considered it illogical to call on Hezbollah to disarm. "Weapons would be a problem if they were used inside Lebanon to favor one side over the others, to control politics and run the country, but they are not used against anyone but the Israeli enemy," he continued. "Without the resistance and its weapons, Israel would not be deterred."