Nasrallah to Israel: Accept “the mix of Lebanese and Iranian blood on Syrian soil in Quneitra” or face war

In is first speech since the cross-border military clash with Israel this week, Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah Friday, Jan. 30 tried dictating terms to Israel for border calm to continue. He said Israel must give up the right it reserves to strike out against the presence of his Lebanese Shiite organization and Iran on Syrian soil in Quneitra – or else, the war goes on.

“The resistance no longer cares about rules of engagement,” he said in reference to Israeli leaders’ repeated warning that they would not tolerate an Iranian-backed Hizballah takeover of Syrian Golan for opening up a second front against the Jewish state.

The Hizballah leader went on to say: “From now on, if any member of Hizballah is assassinated, we will blame it on Israel and reserve the right to respond to it whenever and however we choose.”

The main point he made was this: “The mix of Lebanese and Iranian blood on Syrian soil in Quneitra represents the unity of our battle and fate.”

During the day he conferred with a visitor from Tehran: Al Qods Brigades chief, Gen. Qassem Sioleimani.

Clearly, the high tension emanating from the Golan and its environs since the air strike on Jan. 18 that killed an Iranian general and six Hizballah officers near Quneitra – up until the Hizballah attack on an IDF convoy from Mt. Dov Wednesday, Jan. 28 – was just a preamble.

debkafile’s military sources report that Israel’s armed forces find they are pitched against a dangerous concerted drive by Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Hizballah, local and Iraqi Shiite militias, to seize and control a new pro-Iranian front line – a narrow strip 150-km long – which runs from the Qalamoun Mountains of Syria up to Mt. Hermon and includes the Syrian Golan.

This line overlooks Israel and touches its borders at more than one point.

Hizballah’s chief undoubtedly recognizes – as do his masters in Tehran – that they face more armed clashes with Israel in the coming weeks, because the terms Nasrallah dictated as Tehran’s mouthpiece are unacceptable.

Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu said Friday that the continuous offensive staged by Iran to uproot Israel won’t succeed. He spoke on a hospital visit to soldiers injured in the Hizballah rocket attack on their convoy Wednesday.