No war with Israel in the near future: Hezbollah chief

BEIRUT, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese Shiite armed group Hezbollah's chief Hassan Nasrallah said here on Friday that his party is ready to go to war with Israel but denied the possibility of a war with the Jewish state in the near future.

Speaking through the giant screen to thousands of audiences attending the ceremony to commemorate the war with Israel in 2006,Nasrallah said that his party did not believe that there will be a war with Israel in the near future, but they are not afraid of a war.

"Israel is no longer a nation that cannot be defeated," said Nasrallah in the ceremony held in Beirut's southern suburb, "but if the Jewish state bombards Beirut or its southern suburbs, Hezbollah will strike Tel Aviv."

Nasrallah said Lebanon must have a deterrent military force to meet head-on with Israel. "When we have such a deterrent force, we can tell the Israelis that they will not be able to achieve their goals," Nasrallah added.

The devastating war between Israel and Hezbollah in the summer of 2006 killed more than 1,200 Lebanese civilians 160 Israelis. Israel destroyed Hezbollah's strongholds in southern Lebanon and the southern suburb of Beirut before ending with a UN-brokered ceasefire on August 14, 2006.

Speaking of the Israel's threats that has been launched on Hezbollah in the past two weeks, Nasrallah said that Hezbollah did not believe that behind Israel's threats are plans for war on Lebanon, but Israel is seeking to pressure the Lebanese government against Hezbollah's participation in the new Cabinet.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Monday that the Lebanese government would take responsible for any new attacks against Israel coming from its territory if the Shiite group was included in the new cabinet.

It is the seventh week after Saad Hariri was designated as Prime Minister following his March 14 Alliance won the June 7 elections over Hezbollah-dominant opposition March 8 Alliance. However, Hariri is still striving to form a national unity government as different political blocs cannot reach an agreement on some important portfolios.