Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah waves to the crowd in Beirut, on Monday, Sept. 17, 2012. (The Daily Star/Hasan Shaaban)
In a shocking radio address in Lebanon, Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah just announced the drone brought down by Israel last Saturday indeed originated from Hezbollah. Nasrallah also announced the drone was Irainian made but assembled by members of Hezbollah. The drone flew a mere 30 kilometers from the Dimona reactor.
Israeli military warplanes staged mock raids over southern Lebanon on Sunday and deployed Patriot missiles in Haifa on Monday.
Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah confirmed Thursday that the Lebanese resistance group was behind a drone that Israel shot down over the weekend.
– 9 minutes ago Nasrallah said the drone flew over sensitive locations of Israel and said the Jewish state identified it over the suspected Demona nuclear site.
– 4 minutes ago He said the UAV was Iranian made but assembled by members of Hezbollah.
– 1 minute ago Nasrallah said it was the party’s “natural right” to send drones into Israel “whenever we want and this will not be last time.”
– 0 minutes ago He said since the implementation of UNSCR 1701, there have been 20,864 violations of Lebanese airspace by the Jewish state.
Update:
– 30 minutes ago Nasrallah said the drone flight over Israel proved Hezbollah was not pre-occupied by other regional developments.
– 7 minutes ago The Hezbollah chief also denied that members of the resistance group were in Syria fighting alongside forces loyal to President Bashar Assad.
– 3 minutes ago Nasrallah said one of the aims of the unrest in Syria was to tarnish the name of the resistance.
(Hat tip MW commenters Walid and Taxi)
Good stuff — if a tad risky for Hezbollah. Poking the prize boar with sticks can be hazardous to your health. This is all the truer if you’re in the paddock with it.
However, if one wants to take chances for the good of the cause, baiting Israel with actions like this is the way to go. If Israel can be provoked into committing more crimes without sufficient and plausible justification, she will eventually destroy herself.
The Lebanese will wake up to very heavy flack from the pro-US and anti-Iran/Syria Lebanese March 14th political coalition that has been incessantly asking for Hizbullah to disarm and has been holding it responsible for having instigated the 2006 devasting war on Lebanon with the abductions. “March 14th” will be saying that this admission of the drone incursion is one more provocation by Hizbullah that could set off another war and all the more reason whey Hizbullah should disarm.
The opposing March 8 political faction, that includes the Hizbullah political wing, and that represents most Lebanese, will be responding that this drone innovation proves again that Hizbullah’s arms is what’s keeping Israel from invading Lebanon and all the more reason why Hizbullah should not disarm until Israel gives up its warmongering ways.
Well, well, well. Remember Hilaire Belloc’s little rhyme:
Whatever happens, we have got
The Maxim gun, and they have not.
It was only a matter of time before “they” got the Maxim gun [the first machine gun] – and drones.
If he truly was interested in a just & peaceful mideast, President Obama would call upon both Lebanon and Israel to agree to end all aerial incursions upon each other, at the same time threatening to shoot down any aircraft in violation of said agreement. This would demonstrate genuine evenhandedness, a heretofore missing element in U.S. mideast policy. From that point the road to a just and peacefull settlement of the P/I conflict would soon be apparent.
Well MarkfromIreland’s analysis at FDG was right on. Seemed to be the only one who got that story right even in spite of the fact that Israel muddied the waters by claiming it was Hezbollah all along.