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Netanyahu dismisses Nasrallah threat

[ssba]

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday dismissed a threat by Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, according to which Hezbollah forces would conquer the Galilee in the event of renewed hostilities between the organisation and Israel. Nasrallah’s statement was made within the framework of celebrations of the 32nd anniversary of the Iranian revolution. His remarks were broadcast to a large gathering in Beirut. The Hezbollah leader has been in hiding since the 2006 war between Israel and the movement. At the event in Beirut, a Hezbollah commander who had led a 22 man cell in Egypt appeared before the crowd. Mohammed Mansour, alias ‘Sami Shihab’, was convicted by an Egyptian court in 2009 of planning acts of terror in Egypt and Sinai. He succeeded in escaping captivity when the recent unrest in Egypt led to a breakdown of order in the prison in which he was incarcerated.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking at a conference in Jerusalem, advised Nasrallah not to underestimate Israel’s ‘strength or its ability to defend itself.’ He said that ‘whoever hides in a bunker should stay in the bunker’, mocking the fact that Nasrallah rarely appears in public because of his apparent fear of assassination at the hands of Israel.