Hizbollah doesn’t want war with Israel but not afraid of one: Nasrallah

The militant group's leader was speaking at a memorial for the six fighters and Iranian general killed by Israel earlier this month.

Hizbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, speaks via video link to his supporters during a ceremony marking the death of six Hizbollah fighters and an Iranian general who were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Syria’s Golan Heights last week, in the southern suburb of Beirut on January 30. Bilal Hussein / AP PhotoShow less

BEIRUT // The leader of Hizbollah said on Friday his group did not want war with Israel but was ready for one and had the right to respond to Israeli “aggression” in any time and place.

“We do not want a war but we are not afraid of it and we must distinguish between the two and the Israelis must also understand this very well,” Hassan Nasrallah said.

Mr Nasrallah was speaking at an event to commemorate the deaths of six Hizbollah fighters and an Iranian general killed by an Israeli air raid in Syria on January 18. The Iranian-backed Hizbollah retaliated on Wednesday with a rocket attack that killed two Israeli soldiers on the frontier with Lebanon.

* Reuters