Hezbollah leader to troops: Be ready to take the Galilee

Celebrating Martyrs’ Day in Lebanon on Wednesday, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah announced to a rally that fighters should be ready to “take over the Galilee,” according to Agence France-Presse. His comments come just after the third anniversary of the death of Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh, who was killed in a bombing in Damascus.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded sharply at a conference in Jerusalem saying, “Nasrallah announced today that he can occupy the Galilee, but I have news for you, he can’t.”

The Galilee is the northernmost region of Israel that borders Lebanon. It runs east from the coastal plain of the Mediterranean to the Sea of Galilee. It includes such population centers as Tiberius and Nazareth. The Galilee was also hit hard by rockets during Hezbollah’s month-long war with Israel in 2006.

The region also contains a strong Palestinian Arab presence. Should Hezbollah forces try to move south during a war with Israel, they could have some help from the inside. But as the Trumpet has reported before, Hezbollah’s strength is in its massive rocket arsenal. A war with Israel would probably involve a barrage of weaponry rather than a ground incursion into the Galilee.