Netanyahu says Nasrallah 'embarrassed' by Israel destroying tunnels
Speaking at his weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Netanyahu criticized Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, saying the Shi'ite leader was "very embarrassed" by the army's success in exposing cross-border "attack tunnels" in its recent Northern Shield operation.
"He (Nasrallah) and his men invested tremendous efforts in the surprise weapons of the cross-border tunnels. Within six weeks, we completely deprived him of this weapon," the Israeli leader said.
Nasrallah is in "financial distress" after US President Donald Trump re-imposed nuclear-related sanctions on Iran, Hezbollah's main ally, in a policy "we have advocated," Netanyahu noted.
"President Trump adopted this policy in a clear and sharp manner, severely harming the funding sources of Iran and its proxies, mainly the Hezbollah," he explained.
"In front of Hezbollah is the lethal force of the Israel Defense Forces," the Israeli prime minister stressed.
Netanyahu's remarks came a day after an address by Nasrallah to him during a televised speech on the Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen TV.
"Be cautious. Don't continue what you are doing in Syria. Don't miscalculate and drag the region into a war or a major confrontation," Nasrallah said.
"Israel will regret if it wages a war against Lebanon. Israelis should know that they should not attack us because the cost of this attack will be much bigger than they expect," the Hezbollah leader added.
Netanyahu announced the discovery of tunnels to cover his bribery and other corruption-related cases investigated by the police, he noted.
Israel considers Iran and Hezbollah its greatest enemies.
Israel has recently increased its attacks on Iranian sites in
“We call on [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and the new chief of staff to not make mistakes in their assessments. They’ll regret it,” said Nasrallah.
“The price of aggression will be greater than they estimate,” said Nasrallah, speaking on Saturday night for the first time since the beginning of November.
“Any Israeli aggression, whether it is war or the assassination of Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon or Syria, we will respond to it.
Any attack or aggression is, in our view, a declaration of war.”
