Nasrallah Threatening Geagea: We Have 100,000 Fighters

Lebanese soldiers stand guard as supporters of the Hezbollah and Amal groups burn rubbish containers to block a road during a protest in Beirut. (AP)
Lebanese soldiers stand guard as supporters of the Hezbollah and Amal groups burn rubbish containers to block a road during a protest in Beirut. (AP)
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Nasrallah Threatening Geagea: We Have 100,000 Fighters

Lebanese soldiers stand guard as supporters of the Hezbollah and Amal groups burn rubbish containers to block a road during a protest in Beirut. (AP)
Lebanese soldiers stand guard as supporters of the Hezbollah and Amal groups burn rubbish containers to block a road during a protest in Beirut. (AP)

Head of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah threatened on Monday the Lebanese Forces, saying his party boasts 100,000 trained and armed fighters.

He warned any side in the country against thinking of “waging a civil war with the party,” stressing in a harsh tone: “Be reasonable.”

In a speech on Monday, Nasrallah attempted to assure Christians, days after the clashes in Beirut’s Tayyouneh area pitted supporters of the Shiite Hezbollah and the Amal movement against the Christian LF.

Seven people were killed in the fighting and dozens injured.

The LF condemned Thursday’s events and blamed the violence on Hezbollah’s “incitement” against Tarek Bitar, the lead investigator in a probe into last year’s blast at Beirut port.

Amal and Hezbollah had called the demonstration to protest against Bitar.

Nasrallah alleged that his party helped preserve the presence of Christians in Syria and that it was defending Christian representation in Lebanon.

In his strongly-worded speech, he sharply criticized LF leader Samir Geagea, accusing him of seeking to divide Lebanon and ignite civil war.

He described the Tayyouneh developments as “fateful”, saying the victims were killed by LF supporters.

Addressing Geagea, he said: “With whom do want to wage a civil war? Don’t get your calculations wrong. You must know that Hezbollah boasts 100,000 fighters.”

“Don’t miscalculate and you should derive lessons from your wars and ours,” he said pointedly.

Moreover, Nasrallah addressed a footage of the fighting that showed a soldier firing at protesters.

He called for an investigation and for accountability, “otherwise we will see what will happen.”

“We do not leave the blood of our martyrs behind,” he stated.

On the Beirut port explosion probe, Nasrallah described Bitar as a “dictator”, claiming he is being backed by foreign embassies.



Israeli Strikes Kill 12 in Lebanon, including 5 Hezbollah Fighters

Women walk near destroyed buildings, with one holding the flag of Hezbollah, in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, after an Israeli military spokesperson said that Israel would keep troops in several posts in southern Lebanon past the deadline for them to withdraw, February 18, 2025 - Reuters reported.
Women walk near destroyed buildings, with one holding the flag of Hezbollah, in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, after an Israeli military spokesperson said that Israel would keep troops in several posts in southern Lebanon past the deadline for them to withdraw, February 18, 2025 - Reuters reported.
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Israeli Strikes Kill 12 in Lebanon, including 5 Hezbollah Fighters

Women walk near destroyed buildings, with one holding the flag of Hezbollah, in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, after an Israeli military spokesperson said that Israel would keep troops in several posts in southern Lebanon past the deadline for them to withdraw, February 18, 2025 - Reuters reported.
Women walk near destroyed buildings, with one holding the flag of Hezbollah, in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, after an Israeli military spokesperson said that Israel would keep troops in several posts in southern Lebanon past the deadline for them to withdraw, February 18, 2025 - Reuters reported.

Heavy Israeli airstrikes killed 12 people, including five Hezbollah fighters, in eastern Lebanon on Tuesday, a security source in Lebanon said, in what Israel said was a warning to the Iran-backed group against trying to re-establish itself.

The Israeli military said the airstrikes targeted training camps used by elite Hezbollah fighters and warehouses it used to store weapons in the Bekaa Valley region of eastern Lebanon.

The airstrikes were the deadliest on the area since a US-brokered ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel last November. Bachir Khodr, governor of the Bekaa region, said seven of the dead were Syrian nationals.

Israel dealt Hezbollah heavy blows in last year's conflict, killing its leader Hassan Nasrallah along with other commanders and destroying much of its arsenal.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Tuesday's strikes sent a "clear message" to Hezbollah, accusing it of planning to rebuild the capability to raid Israel through the elite Radwan force, Reuters reported.

Israel "will respond with maximum force to any attempt at rebuilding", he said. He added that strikes were also a message to the Lebanese government, saying it was responsible for upholding the ceasefire agreement.

There was no immediate public response from Hezbollah or from the Lebanese government to the latest Israeli strikes.

The United States has submitted a proposal to the Lebanese government aimed at securing Hezbollah's disarmament within four months in exchange for Israel halting airstrikes and withdrawing troops from positions they still hold in south Lebanon.

Under the terms of the ceasefire brokered by the US and France, Lebanon's armed forces were to confiscate "all unauthorized arms", beginning in the area south of the Litani River - the zone closest to Israel.