Netanyahu Warns of 'Crushing' Retaliation after Nasrallah's Remarks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday warned Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah that "crushing" retaliation would follow any attack, after Nasrallah said the group's rockets could reach Tel Aviv.
"Over the weekend we heard Nasrallah's boasting about his attack plans," he said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting.
"Let me be clear -- if Hizbullah dares to make the mistake of attacking Israel, we will lay upon it and on Lebanon a crushing military blow," he added.
In a Friday interview broadcast on Hizbullah's al-Manar television, Nasrallah warned that key Israeli sites along the Mediterranean coast, including Tel Aviv, are "within range of our rockets."
Nasrallah also said that Israel's arch-foe Iran was "able to bombard Israel with ferocity and force," but "will not start a war."
Last week, Netanyahu said that "Iran has been threatening the destruction of Israel" and warned that Israel's fighter jets "can reach anywhere in the Middle East, including Iran."
Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in neighboring Syria against what it says are Iranian and Hizbullah military targets. It has vowed to keep Iran from entrenching itself militarily there.
Israel recently uncovered and destroyed six tunnels passing under the border from Lebanon into Israel.
It alleges Hizbullah had planned to use the tunnels for attacks in Israel.
Source: Agence France Presse
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