Date: Jan 28, 2019 Source: The Daily Star Nasrallah warns Israel not to spark regional war and Netanyahu warns him back BEIRUT/MARKABA/OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah warned Israel against expanding attacks in Syria and risking sparking broader regional conflict, in an lengthy live interview Saturday that broke a monthslong silence. Last week, Israeli airstrikes hit Iranian military positions in Syria that killed 21 people, the majority of them Iranians, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Since 2013, Israel’s army has claimed hundreds of attacks on what it says are Iranian military targets and arms deliveries to Hezbollah, with the goal of stopping Iran from entrenching itself militarily in Syria. Nasrallah said during the interview with Al-Mayadeen last week’s strike was a “huge development.” Addressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he warned: “Be cautious not to exaggerate what you are doing in Syria. Miscalculation could drag the region into a war or a major confrontation.” He added that the allied Syrian regime, Hezbollah and Iran could “at any moment” decide “to deal with Israeli aggressions differently.” Nasrallah said Syria was in a better place than before, and Israel so far has failed to undermine the Syrian government, extract Iran from Syria or prevent Hezbollah from acquiring precision missiles. But he added that a “full achievement” in Syria hadn’t yet been accomplished. When asked whether a retaliation could take the form of airstrikes on Tel Aviv, Nasrallah said “anything is possible,” adding Hezbollah possessed “high-precision missiles” capable of hitting anywhere in Israel. Netanyahu reacted Sunday, saying at the start of a Cabinet meeting that “the lethal striking force of the IDF [Israeli army] stands facing Hezbollah.” He said Nasrallah was experiencing “great consternation” over Israel’s recent operation to expose and destroy tunnels from Lebanon to Israel. He also spoke of what he called Hezbollah’s “financial distress” and the Jewish state’s “determination.” “Believe me, Nasrallah has good reasons not to want to feel the might of our arm.” On Jan. 13, Israel concluded its Operation Northern Shield, launched in early December to unearth and destroy tunnels that it accused Hezbollah of digging across the border from Lebanon. Hezbollah made no comment on the operation while it was in progress. Nasrallah acknowledged the existence of the tunnels Saturday, saying that he and the Hezbollah command had decided not to comment until after the operation ended, so as not to contribute to “Netanyahu’s media game.” He said “some of those tunnels preceded the 2006 War” and mocked Israel for taking so long to uncover them. “The Israelis discovered a number of tunnels after many years, and it’s not a surprise - the surprise is that these tunnels, they took some time to find,” he said. Nasrallah, however, did not specify whether the tunnels were built before the 2006 War between Hezbollah and Israel, and said his party was not obliged to say who built them. The Hezbollah leader was coy regarding the existence of more tunnels, saying that should remain a “constructive mystery.” In addition to locating and destroying tunnels, Israel in the past weeks resumed construction of a cement border wall that passes through disputed points between Lebanon and Israel. The move prompted the Higher Defense Council to meet at Baabda Palace this month. Over the weekend, Israel expanded and bolstered its cement wall, digging trenches and erecting concrete blocks. Israeli bulldozers were seen opposite the town of Adeisseh Sunday, where Operation Northern Shield activity had taken place. Work also continued Sunday on constructing the wall, which now passes through at least seven disputed points between the two countries. Israel installed iron fencing along the length of the wall, a move security sources in the south told The Daily Star aimed to prevent infiltration. Near the occupied town of Hunin, Israeli vehicles and bulldozers removed a number of earth hillocks from near the U.N.-demarcated Blue Line under the observation of UNIFIL peacekeeping forces. Nasrallah said Hezbollah did not interfere in the border demarcation issue as it was up to the Lebanese state to address it. “The Lebanese state should review the measures that the Israelis are taking on the border,” he said, adding Hezbollah stood behind the state and the Lebanese Army on this matter. with agencies Netanyahu warns Hezbollah chief of Israel's 'lethal' power Agence France Presse OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the head of Hezbollah of his army's "lethal" power on Sunday, in reaction to Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah cautioning Israel against further strikes in Syria. "The lethal striking force of the IDF [Israeli army] stands facing Hezbollah," Netanyahu said at the start of a cabinet meeting. In an interview with Beirut based Al-Mayadeen television on Saturday, Nasrallah warned Netanyahu that Syria and Hezbollah could "at any moment" decide to "deal with ... Israeli aggression." "Don't make an error of judgment and don't lead the region towards war or a major clash," Nasrallah said, stating that Hezbollah possessed "high-precision missiles" capable of hitting anywhere in Israel. Israel's army has since 2013 claimed hundreds of attacks on what it says are Iranian military targets and arms deliveries to Hezbollah, with the goal of stopping its main enemy Iran from entrenching itself militarily in neighboring Syria. Netanyahu said Nasrallah was experiencing "great consternation" over Israel's recent operation to expose and destroy tunnels from Lebanon to Israel. He also spoke of what he called Hezbollah's "financial distress" and the Jewish state's "determination". "Believe me, Nasrallah has good reasons not to want to feel the might of our arm." Earlier this month Israel concluded an operation to unearth and destroy tunnels which the army accused Hezbollah of digging across the border from Lebanon.