LEBANON: As Israel drops leaflets warning of a strike on south Beirut, Hizbollah leader say Tel Aviv will be bombed in Beirut is bombed

Record ID: 1542771

  • Title: LEBANON: As Israel drops leaflets warning of a strike on south Beirut, Hizbollah leader say Tel Aviv will be bombed in Beirut is bombed
  • Date: 4th August 2006
  • Summary: VARIOUS PEOPLE WATCHING THE LATEST BROADCAST FOR HIZBOLLAH CHIEF HASSAN NASRALLAH
  • Embargoed: 18th August 2006 22:36
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Lebanon
  • Country: Lebanon
  • Topics: War / Fighting,Defence / Military
  • Reuters ID: LVADUXHULDYFDBFE1BODJ8JEY6LD
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: An Israeli warplane dropped leaflets in Beirut's Hizbollah-dominated southern suburb on Thursday (August 3), urging residents to flee the area since Israel intended to widen its offensive in Beirut.
    "To the residents of Haret Hreik, Beer al-Abed, Hay Madi and Rweis, for your own safety you must flee those suburbs immediately," the Arabic-language leaflets, signed "The State of Israel", said.
    In response, Hizbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Thursday his guerrillas would fire rockets at Tel Aviv if Israel attacked central Beirut.
    "If you bomb our capital, we will bomb the capital of your oppressive state. If you strike Beirut, the Islamic Resistance will strike Tel Aviv and it is able to do so with the help of God," Nasrallah said in a taped televised message.
    It was the group's first direct claim that it had longer-range missiles that can hit the central Israel city, 130 km (80 miles) south of Lebanon.
    Residents of Beirut watched closely as Nasrallah said Hizbollah would end its rocket attacks on northern Israel if the Israelis stopped attacking civilian areas in Lebanon.
    "I wish to stress that our bombing of the settlements, be they in the north (of Israel) or beyond Haifa and all the way to Tel Aviv, since matters have become clear, are a reaction and not an action. If you attack our cities, our villages, our civilians, our capital, we will react. (If) at any time you decide to stop your campaigns on our cities, villages, civilians and infrastructure, we will not strike with rockets any settlement or Israeli city," he said.
    Nasrallah also dismissed assessments by Israeli leaders that Hizbollah had been severely weakened and its capabilities diminished.
    Nasrallah said Israeli ground forces were not achieving much success in south Lebanon, though he admitted they had advanced on several fronts in the border area.
    The cleric, looking relaxed, took a swipe at the United States, vowing that Lebanon would never fall into Washington's hands.
    A senior Israeli defence source was swift to react, telling Israel's Channel One television that the Jewish state would destroy Lebanese infrastructure if Tel Aviv was attacked.
    The leaflet warning came after Israel experienced its bloodiest day of fighting in which eight civilians and four soldiers were killed, bringing the total of Israelis killed to 67.
    A resident who received the leaflet said the southern suburb was already largely empty as previous Israeli offensives had scared many residents into fleeing to safer areas.
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