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Speaking four days after the ceasefire which ended a week of conflict between Israel and the Islamist Hamas rulers of Gaza, Nasrallah said Hezbollah's response to any attack would dwarf the rocket fire launched from Palestinian territories. "Israel, which was shaken by a handful of Fajr-5 rockets during eight days how would it cope with thousands of rockets which would fall on Tel Aviv and other (cities) ... if it attacked Lebanon?" Nasrallah said. The Fajr-5s, with a range of 75km (45 miles) able to strike Tel Aviv or Jerusalem and 175kg (386 lb) warheads, are the most powerful and long-range rockets to have been fired from Gaza.
But Hezbollah, which fought Israel to a standstill in a 34-day war six years ago, says it has been re-arming since then and has a far deadlier arsenal than Hamas. Nasrallah has said Hezbollah could kill tens of thousands of people and strike anywhere inside Israel if hostilities break out again. "If the confrontation with the Gaza Strip ... had a range of 40 to 70 km, the battle with us will range over the whole of occupied Palestine from the Lebanese border to the Jordanian border, to the Red Sea," Nasrallah said.
Hezbollah could hit targets "from Kiryat Shmona and let the Israelis listen carefully from Kiryat Shmona to Eilat", he said, referring to Israeli's northernmost town on the Lebanese border to the Red Sea port 290 miles further south. The movement has warned that any Israeli attack against the nuclear facilities of its patron Iran, which has armed and funded the Lebanese Shia Muslim militant group, would inflame the Middle East though it has not specified its own response.
In a move it said showed it could penetrate deep inside Israeli defences, it flew a drone over Israel last month. The drone was shot down after flying 25 miles into southern Israel. Israel says its Iron Dome missile defence system knocked out 90 per cent of the rockets fired from Gaza which were on course to hit populated areas.
Tens of thousands mark Ashura
Citing unnamed senior U.S. and Middle Eastern officials, the report says the militia's immediate goal is to support Mr. Assad's military as it battles rebel forces in a civil war that is approaching its third year. But the officials say the long-term goal is to have a reliable presence in Syria in the event the government collapses or is forced to retreat from Damascus.
A senior Obama administration official was quoted as saying "It is important for Iran to have a force in Syria that is reliable and can be counted on." Neither Iranian nor Hezbollah officials have commented on the report. The United Nations says more than 60,000 people have died since the Syrian conflict began in March of 2011.
On Monday, activists in Syria said rebels had taken hold of the country's largest hydro-electric dam along the Euphrates River in the northern province of Raqa. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the dam is still in operation. Government and rebel accounts cannot be independently verified because Syria does not permit journalists to report freely.
Report: Iran and Hezbollah Forming Militias in Syria
Rebels led by the al-Qaida-linked militant group Jabhat al-Nusra now control much of the water flow in the country's north and east, eliciting warnings from experts that any mistake in managing the dam may drown wide areas in Syria and Iraq. A Syrian government official denied that the rebels captured the dam, saying "heavy clashes are taking place around it." The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. But amateur video released by activists showed gunmen walking around the facility's operations rooms and employees apparently carrying on with their work as usual.
In the capital, Damascus, the rebels kept the battle going mostly in northeastern and southern neighborhoods as the fighting gets closer to the heart of President Bashar Assad's seat of power. The capture of the al-Furat dam came after rebels seized two smaller dams on the Euphrates river, which flows from Turkey through Syria and into Iraq. Behind al-Furat dam lies Lake Assad, which at 640 square kilometers (247 square miles) is the country's largest water reservoir. The dam produces 880 megawatts of electricity, a small amount of the country's production. Syria's electricity production relies on plants powered by natural gas and fuel oil.
Still, the capture handed the rebels control over water and electricity supplies for both government-held areas and large swaths of land the opposition has captured over the past 22 months of fighting. "This is the most important dam in Syria. It is a strategic dam, and Lake Assad is one of the largest artificial lakes in the region," said Rami Abdul-Rahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. "It supplies many areas around Syria with electricity," Abdul-Rahman said, citing the provinces of Raqqa, Hassaka and Aleppo in the north as well as Deir el-Zour in the east near the Iraqi border.
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Why, because the Israelis turned southern Lebanon into rubble the last go around. Even that idiot Nasrallah as stupid and terrorist as he is said he made a big mistake and under estimated the Israelis. And had he known he would have never done it.
That's right, they can't afford opening up another front with the Israelis. They are financially and militarily strapped enough as it is. Behind all the bravado they know these are desperate times.Hezbollah & Iran formin' militias in Syria to help prop up Assad...
Report: Iran and Hezbollah Forming Militias in Syria
February 11, 2013 - A report published Monday by the Washington Post says Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah have been building a militia network in Syria to preserve their interests if President Bashar al-Assad's government collapses.
Citing unnamed senior U.S. and Middle Eastern officials, the report says the militia's immediate goal is to support Mr. Assad's military as it battles rebel forces in a civil war that is approaching its third year. But the officials say the long-term goal is to have a reliable presence in Syria in the event the government collapses or is forced to retreat from Damascus.
A senior Obama administration official was quoted as saying "It is important for Iran to have a force in Syria that is reliable and can be counted on." Neither Iranian nor Hezbollah officials have commented on the report. The United Nations says more than 60,000 people have died since the Syrian conflict began in March of 2011.
On Monday, activists in Syria said rebels had taken hold of the country's largest hydro-electric dam along the Euphrates River in the northern province of Raqa. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the dam is still in operation. Government and rebel accounts cannot be independently verified because Syria does not permit journalists to report freely.
Report: Iran and Hezbollah Forming Militias in Syria
See also:
Syrian rebels capture country's largest dam
Feb 11,`13 -- Syrian rebels scored one of their biggest strategic victories Monday since the country's crisis began two years ago, capturing the nation's largest dam and iconic industrial symbol of the Assad family's four-decade rule.
Rebels led by the al-Qaida-linked militant group Jabhat al-Nusra now control much of the water flow in the country's north and east, eliciting warnings from experts that any mistake in managing the dam may drown wide areas in Syria and Iraq. A Syrian government official denied that the rebels captured the dam, saying "heavy clashes are taking place around it." The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. But amateur video released by activists showed gunmen walking around the facility's operations rooms and employees apparently carrying on with their work as usual.
In the capital, Damascus, the rebels kept the battle going mostly in northeastern and southern neighborhoods as the fighting gets closer to the heart of President Bashar Assad's seat of power. The capture of the al-Furat dam came after rebels seized two smaller dams on the Euphrates river, which flows from Turkey through Syria and into Iraq. Behind al-Furat dam lies Lake Assad, which at 640 square kilometers (247 square miles) is the country's largest water reservoir. The dam produces 880 megawatts of electricity, a small amount of the country's production. Syria's electricity production relies on plants powered by natural gas and fuel oil.
Still, the capture handed the rebels control over water and electricity supplies for both government-held areas and large swaths of land the opposition has captured over the past 22 months of fighting. "This is the most important dam in Syria. It is a strategic dam, and Lake Assad is one of the largest artificial lakes in the region," said Rami Abdul-Rahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. "It supplies many areas around Syria with electricity," Abdul-Rahman said, citing the provinces of Raqqa, Hassaka and Aleppo in the north as well as Deir el-Zour in the east near the Iraqi border.
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Hezbollah is there to defend against israeli attacks
Hezbollah is there to defend against israeli attacks
Why, because the Israelis turned southern Lebanon into rubble the last go around. Even that idiot Nasrallah as stupid and terrorist as he is said he made a big mistake and under estimated the Israelis. And had he known he would have never done it.
So now he understands not to fuck with the Israelis. It usually takes a really good ass kicking by the Israelis to make these donkeys understand. More proof that Israel understand quite well how to communicate a message to these barbaric animals.
Hezbollah is a terrorist organization that assissinated the prime minister of Lebanon. They are a bunch of animals and Islamic thugs that have taken the country hostage.Hezbollah is there to defend against israeli attacks
(COMMENT-THUMNAIL)Hezbollah is a terrorist organization that assissinated the prime minister of Lebanon. They are a bunch of animals and Islamic thugs that have taken the country hostage.Hezbollah is there to defend against israeli attacks
Anything Jos says believe the opposite.
Iran and Hezbollah build militia networks in Syria said:Iran and Hezbollah, its Lebanese proxy, are building a network of militias inside Syria to preserve their interests in the event that President Bashar al-Assad's government falls or is forced to retreat from Damascus, according to US and Middle Eastern officials.
The militias are fighting alongside Syrian government forces. But officials believe Iran's long-term goal is to have reliable operatives in place in the event that Syria fractures into separate ethnic and sectarian enclaves.
SOURCE: Iran and Hezbollah build militia networks in Syria, officials say | World news | Guardian Weekly