If Israel wants to wage a war against Hezbollah it will need to launch a ground invasion that it currently isn't prepared for, the leader of the Lebanese terrorist group said on Monday.
"I am leaning toward the conclusion that Israel is unlikely to carry out a war on Lebanon. I personally think that it is unlikely they will do so because… its home front is not prepared," Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised speech.
The Hezbollah leader pointed to the recent rockets fired from Gaza over Tel Aviv as proof that Israel is can't defend itself.
"The events and days have proved the unpreparedness of the Israeli home front. We saw how two missiles were fired by mistake from Gaza and landed in the Tel Aviv surroundings and then another missile was shot off from Gaza and landed north of Tel Aviv. All the Israeli measures were not able to do anything. The Israelis say the home front is not ready," he said.
"Any theoretical Israeli war needs a ground operation to achieve its desired goal. The era in which the air force decides the battle is over. This has become one of the military axioms in the world. If Israel starts a war, it needs a ground operation to achieve its goal for the war. Many reasons make me see this option as unlikely," Nasrallah concluded.
Nasrallah also dismissed a recent report from a Kuwaiti newspaper which said the Hezbollah leader had predicted that Israel would launch a war against Lebanon this summer.
The report's content was false, Nasrallah said, and is part of a "coordinated campaign against Hezbollah."
The IDF regularly carries out simulated war scenarios with Hezbollah to prepare for any future escalation.
In December, the IDF launched "Operation Northern Shield" to destroy cross-border tunnels dug by Hezbollah from Lebanon into Israel.
Although the tunnels were said to be destroyed, the IDF believes Hezbollah is still planning to invade northern Israel.
Nasrallah has often stated that Israel is "scared of a war with Hezbollah" and has previously vowed to destroy Tel Aviv in a future war with the Jewish state.
In a speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York last year, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu listed Lebanon among the countries Israel is ready to strike in order to contain Iran, and has warned that an attack from Hezbollah would met with an "iron fist".
Israel last fought Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2006. The war lasted 34 days and led to the deaths of 1,200 people in Lebanon, mainly civilians, and 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers.
This article was originally published by i24NEWS. Read more at https://www.i24news.tv/en.
