Beirut (AFP)
Lebanese Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said Saturday that his movement had "decided" to respond to the drone "attack" last week against his stronghold in Beirut and attributed to Israel.
Israel must "pay the price" for this attack and it is for Hezbollah to "establish rules of engagement and (...) a logic of protection for the country," said Nasrallah in a speech broadcast on television.
He promised to retaliate "at any cost" and to target Israeli drones.
Israel had not confirmed the drone attack, which occurred on 24 August in the southern Shiite suburb of Beirut and was described as a "declaration of war" by Lebanese President Michel Aoun.
The attack was presented by Hassan Nasrallah as Israel's "first act of aggression" in Lebanon since the 2006 war between the Jewish state and Hezbollah, which left 1,200 dead on the Lebanese side and 160 on the Israeli side.
Hassan Nasrallah then directly threatened Israel with reprisals: "I say to the Israeli army at the borders (...) Get ready and wait for us."
In return, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Hassan Nasrallah and the Lebanese state to beware of what they say and do.
Israel's drone attack took place hours after Israel announced that it had carried out strikes in Syria against Iranian forces. Nasrallah had assured that a center of the Shia movement had been hit in Syria, confirming the deaths of two of his men.
On Wednesday, the Lebanese army fired at an Israeli drone flying over a region in southern Lebanon, according to a military source and state media.
Considered by Israel and the United States as a "terrorist organization", Hezbollah is a major political player in Lebanon. He intervenes militarily in the conflict in Syria in support of the Damascus regime, alongside Iran, another arch-enemy of Israel.
© 2019 AFP