Hezbollah stands fast

Nasrollah Stresses Further Unexpected Attacks Against Zionist Regime's Positions

Revised:

Hezbollah's leader has told Aljazeera that its leadership remains functioning, despite Israeli claims.

In an interview with the TV channel, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said that the two Israeli soldiers captured by Hezbollah would not be released even "if the whole universe comes against us".

He said that the soldiers would be freed only as part of a prisoner exchange agreed through indirect negotiations.

Secretary General of the Lebanese Hezbollah movement Seyed Hassan Nasrollah stressed the continuation of unexpected military attacks by Lebanese resistance combatants against the Zionist regime, adding that none of the Hezbollah movement officials have been martyred in the Zionist regime's offensives.

In an exclusive interview with the Al-Jazeera Network, Hezbollah's Secretary General dismissed the Zionist regime's baseless claims that the Hezbollah has lost 50% of its military capability in the past week.

He emphasized that due to pre-determined measures Hezbollah has neither lost any of its officials in these attacks nor has suffered a serious blow to its military capability.

He added that after the destruction of a Zionist regime's vessel in the coastal region of Lebanon, the Israeli naval units fled the Lebanese coasts after several years.

Nasrollah said Hezbollah is prepared to fight the usurper Zionist forces for a long period of time. He added: "We have just started the operations and will continue this job."

He dismissed the baseless claims of the Zionist regime that it has launched attacks on Lebanon for the sole purpose of releasing two Zionist occupation troopers captured by resistance combatants.

He insisted: Zionists' major goal is to destroy Hezbollah, because the resistance combatants had previously killed or captured the usurper Zionist forces in southern Lebanon."

Nasrollah said unlike the Israeli forces, Hezbollah tries hard not to target Israeli civilians but under the current circumstances such problems might arise.

He criticized the stance of several Islamic and Arab countries regarding the developments in Lebanon and said: "The resistance movement has never counted on the Arab leaders' support, because it knew they are the representatives of the West in the region."

He denied any links between the recent developments in Lebanon and Iran's nuclear case. He added: Hezbollah has always emphasized the priority of meeting Lebanon's national interests.

He added that Israel wants to dominate Lebanon and make Hezbollah give into its demands. If it succeeds, he noted, the next government established in Lebanon should gain the approval of Ehud Olmert and the Mossad intelligence agency, in addition to the American, French and British ambassadors to Lebanon.

Israeli aircraft had dropped 23 tonnes of explosives on a site in southern Beirut on Wednesday night, claiming that it was an underground bunker where Hezbollah leaders, possibly including Nasrallah, were meeting.

Hezbollah immediately denied that the building was a bunker and said that none of its members was hurt.

It said the site was a mosque that was under construction.

Nasrallah said: "I can confirm without exaggerating or using psychological warfare that we have not been harmed."

Aljazeera, which aired only excerpts of the interview, said it was taped earlier on Thursday.

The interviewer said the meeting took place amid tight security precautions but did not say where.

Nasrallah also denied claims by Israel to have destroyed half of Hezbollah's rocket arsenal, calling the claims "baseless".

He said: "Hezbollah has so far stood fast, absorbed the strike, retaken the initiative and made the surprises that it had promised, and there are more surprises."

He said that a Hezbollah defeat would be "a defeat for the entire Islamic nation".

Agencies