Hezbollah warns Israel it will 'also go back to the Stone Age' if it attacks Lebanon

Hassan Nasrallah makes threat after similar warning from Israel last week

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  Hezbollah members take part in a military exercise in Aaramta, Lebanon. Reuters

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  An explosion as the armed group stages a mock cross-border raid into Israel. AFP

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  Fighters on motorbikes at the show of strength on Resistance and Liberation Day, which commemorates an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000. AP

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  Fighters leapt through rings of fire. AP

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  The show of strength was the largest that Hezbollah has staged. EPA

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  Hundreds of masked fighters at the media event. Reuters

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  Hezbollah said the aim was to show its 'complete readiness to confront any aggression'. AFP

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  Light and heavy weapons and vehicles, including anti-aircraft weapons and these rocket launchers, were on display. EPA

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  Onlookers take pictures of the fighters. AFP

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  Hezbollah's conflict with Israel has been largely frozen since they fought the deadly conflict of 2006. AP

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  Israel continues to regularly hit targets related to Hezbollah and Iran in neighbouring Syria. AFP

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  Israel blamed Hamas, the Palestinian political party and armed group, for cross-border exchanges in April. Reuters

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has warned Israel it will “also go back to the Stone Age” if it attacks Lebanon, after an Israeli minister issued the same threat last week.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant had threatened to “return Lebanon to the Stone Age” amid weeks of tension with Hezbollah along Lebanon's southern border.

Southern Lebanon is controlled by the powerful Iran-backed armed group and political party.

Mr Nasrallah made his comments during an event marking the anniversary of the end of the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah – the last major conflict between the two sides.

The month-long 2006 war came after Hezbollah operatives attacked two Israeli Humvees in a cross-border raid, killing several Israeli soldiers and taking two captive. The ensuing conflict killed hundreds of soldiers and civilians.

During the event, Mr Nasrallah also touched on the clashes last week between Hezbollah and Christian residents of a village overlooking Beirut.

Those clashes came after a Hezbollah vehicle transporting ammunition overturned in the town of Kahaleh, which led to clashes.

Both sides have accused each other of shooting first in a brief skirmish that broke out after residents gathered around the overturned lorry.

The fighting comes amid heightened tension in Lebanon, with the deeply divided parliament unable to agree on the country's next president and as the country grapples with an unprecedented economic crisis.

Mr Nasrallah called for calm and insisted Hezbollah did not have any problems with the people of Kahaleh. He said the ongoing investigation would reveal who attacked first.

But in a clear jibe at Hezbollah's opponents, he claimed that some political leaders were intent on pushing Lebanon towards conflict.

'This country is based on partnership, it is not easy, but there is no other choice,” Mr Nasrallah said.

Hezbollah was the only post-civil war militia to keep its arms. Its critics accuse it of holding the country for ransom given the vast number of weapons its members have.