Turning Israel into a “living hell”: Hizbollah leader in Lebanon threatens genocide
Published: 11 Septenber 2012 Briefing Number 319	Click to Print

Summary: Hizbollah’s leader in Lebanon is Hassan Nasrallah.  In a speech which was broadcast on Lebanese TV on 17 August 2012,  Nasrallah threatened the Israeli people with genocide:  “We are able to turn the lives of millions of Zionist Israelis in all of occupied Palestine into a living hell.....” We reproduce his exact words below. The speech was transcribed by MEMRI (www.memri.org) and published as MEMRI  Special Despatch 4903 on 21 August 2012.  The Member States of the European Union currently refuse to designate Hizbollah as a terrorist organisation.  Instead they argue that Hezbollah has a “political” wing and a “militant” wing, and they seek to keep channels open with the “political” wing.  In reality, Hizbollah’s “political” and “militant” operations are integrated into a single ideology.  And Hassan Nasrallah is emphatically the leader of both the “political” and “military” / “militant” arms of Hizbollah.  Nasrallah’s latest words are worse than incitement to terrorism: they constitute a call to genocide and war crimes. There has been absolutely no public comment from EU leaders or officials following Nasrallah’s speech.  And it matters.   Indeed, Nasrallah said in a New York Times interview in August: “A European blacklist would destroy Hizbollah.  The sources of our funding would dry up and the sources of moral, political and material support will be destroyed”......  The current EU position is worse than indifference to genocidal threats.  It amounts to unintended collusion in threats of genocide.  Nasrallah will be encouraged by the knowledge that he can make such statements with impunity.

Hassan Nasrallah, who is the secretary-general of Hizbollah, said the following in the course of an interview broadcast on Lebanese Al-Manar TV on 17 August 2012 (source: MEMRI Special Despatch 4903, 21 August 2012):
 
“If Iran were weak, or it were strong yet cowardly, Israel would not have hesitated, and there would have been no debate, controversy, or disagreement in Israel.  Israel would have bombed the Iranian nuclear facilities long ago.

Why has Israel not done so yet?  Why is there controversy in Israel whether to bomb or not to bomb?  Because Iran is powerful and courageous, and because the Israelis know full well – and I, along with all of you, know full well – what I say is not mere analysis.  It is based on fact.   We all know that the response of the Islamic Republic of Iran will be massive, resounding, and mighty, in the event that it is targeted by Israel.

Moreover, Israel will be presenting Iran with the golden historic opportunity that it has been dreaming of for 32 years.......

I am not claiming today, we are capable of destroying Israel. I am being realistic.  I am not claiming today that Hizbollah has the capability of destroying Israel.  This would require tremendous capabilities.  What I can say, however, is that we are able to turn the lives of millions of Zionist Israelis in all of occupied Palestine into a living hell.

We are capable of changing the face of Israel.

I say to the Israelis: there are a number of targets in your country.  Not a large number – we don’t need a large number – these targets can be reached by several precise missiles.  A few missiles will suffice.  We don’t need many.

We possess such missiles.  Striking these targets – which I will not name – with only a few missiles will turn the lives of hundreds of thousands of Zionists into a living hell.  We may be talking about tens of thousands of fatalities – not just 300, 400 or 500.  [Nasrallah is presumably referring to launching targeted missile attacks against the Israeli nuclear reactor at Dimona, and fuel storage facilities in Haifa, Ashdod, Pi Glilot and elsewhere around Israel. Hizbollah is reported by Israeli military intelligence to have over 60,000 rockets and missiles in its armoury, including many with the range to strike most of Israel – Beyond Images]
         
Today, on Al-Quds Day 2012, I say to the Israelis: we have the coordinates for these targets.   Our missiles are set in secret locations and are aimed at these targets.

At any stage of aggression against our country, if we have to strike this type of target in order to defend our people and our country,we will not hesitate to do so. The Israelis must know this well: any aggression will cost them dearly.  It will not be comparable at all to the cost of the 2006 war......”

Some related Beyond Images Briefings

Briefing 316 – 21 August 2012
North, South, East, West:
Threats to Israel in 2012, from all directions

Briefing 180 – July 2006
Holding Lebanon hostage: UN Condemnation of Hizbollah

Briefing 4 – August 2002
Close to catastrophe at Pi Glilot: Palestinian group attacks Israel’s largest fuel depot