Nasrallah: We won't disarm even if Shaba returned

Hizbullah leader says weapons will be used to defend Lebanon from Israel, claims MIA issue not resolved.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Nasrallah 224.88 (photo credit: Channel 1 [file])
Nasrallah 224.88
(photo credit: Channel 1 [file])
Hizbullah's goal is freeing the Shaba farms and the northern Ghajar village, but even once these lands are liberated, the organization will not disarm, as its weapons will be used to defend Lebanon from Israel, the guerrilla group's leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, stated in a televised speech on Thursday. "We are a threatened country and Israel aspires to control us and threatens Lebanon," the Hizbullah leader said. Nasrallah also said that the MIA issue had not been resolved, meaning that Hizbullah was still demanding that Israel hand over all bodies not included in the recent prisoner exchange deal. "We will not give up on any of those resistance operatives who were killed," he said. However, Nasrallah did not explain how Hizbullah aimed to achieve this goal. "My hostility towards Israel is the greatest possible hostility, but I don't think Israel cheated," he stressed. However, the Hizbullah leader said that the Lebanese government was responsible for working to achieve this goal and stated that if the government would not exert effort to bring home the MIAs, Hizbullah would. Nasrallah explained that the shooting at a Lebanese military helicopter last week was a mistake and that the organization assumed it was an IDF helicopter that had managed to penetrate an isolated area under Hizbullah's control and instinctively fired at it. He added that the man who had shot at the helicopter was turned over to military investigators.