Nasrallah vows deeper missile strikes
Associated Press, THE JERUSALEM POST Jul. 25, 2006
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1153291996655&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA: Israel Radio reported this morning that while up
to now Nasrallah spoke to the camera without reading from notes that this
time he not only read from a prepared text but even stumbled through the
text at times. Israel Radio also reported that Nasrallah appealed to his
fighters to hang on until a cease-fire is imposed.]

Hizbullah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, looking extremely tired, defiantly
vowed Wednesday that his guerrilla fighters would begin firing rockets
deeper into Israel, beyond the northern port of Haifa, and said the Jewish
state's two-week-long military offensive against Lebanon was linked to a
US-Israeli plan for "a new Middle East."

"I declare that we will enter the 'beyond Haifa' stage," the bearded and
black-turbanned Shiite cleric said in a speech on Hezbollah's al-Manar
television in the early hours of Wednesday. "In the new stage, our attacks
will not remain limited to Haifa. Irrespective of the reaction of the enemy
forces on the rocketing of Haifa, we will move to the stage of 'beyond
Haifa."'

Nasrallah appeared to mock Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who just
concluded the first American diplomatic foray in the region since the
fighting began July 12 and repeatedly said there was no place in "a new
Middle East" for Hezbollah or other Islamist groups bent on Israel's
destruction.

Rice also backed Israel's refusal to negotiate a quick cease-fire, claiming
a lasting settlement could not be reached until Hizbullah was disarmed and
unable to launch rocket attacks on Israeli towns and villages.

Nasrallah, however, appeared to be counting growing international anger at
the US-Israeli position and urged his people to be patient. Hundreds of
Lebanese, most of them believed to be civilians, have died in Israel
attacks.

"Our steadfastness will change the regional and international reality around
us. The enemy won't have a lot of time, no matter what cover the American
administration is providing it," Nasrallah said, in a fiery address also was
carried by Lebanese television stations and Arab satellite channels.

Nasrallah said his organization was ready to discuss an end to the fighting,
but the dignity and national interest of Lebanon was what he termed a "red
line," a reference to the heavy Israeli bombing and ground assaults on the
country, including repeated attacks on Hezbollah-dominated regions in south
Beirut and the Bekaa valley near the Syrian border.

"There is no way that we can accept the imposition of any humiliating
conditions on us, our people or our country ... especially after all these
sacrifices. ... We are open to political discussions and solutions with
flexibility, but the dignity and national interest (of Lebanon) is a red
line,"

Nasrallah also claimed Israel would have attacked his forces in southern
Lebanon by October but lost the element of surprise and were forced to move
early after his guerrilla forces captured two Israeli soldiers in a
cross-border raid two weeks ago. Eight Israeli soldiers died in the attack.

"In an American and Zionist assessment, there are obstacles to a new Middle
East. In the new Middle East, the Palestinian cause should be liquidated,"
Nasrallah said.

"In the new Middle East, there is no place for any resistance movement. The
resistance movements in Palestine and Lebanon must be eliminated," Nasrallah
added, referring to Hamas, fellow Islamic militants fighting in the Gaza
Strip.

"The new Middle East means a region controlled by the US administration
which unilaterally runs its (the region's ) affairs and resources with
Israel being its prime partner. In the new Middle East, the Palestinian
cause should be liquidated," Nasrallah said.

He said Israel could not win a ground war against his guerrilla fighters,
who would continue firing rockets into Israel no matter how far north
Israeli forces penetrated into Lebanon.

"The goal of the incursion to prevent the rocketing of the settlements will
not be achieved," he said. "The rocketing will continue no matter what the
incursion is. We are ready for a ground confrontation. We will have the
upper hand in a ground confrontation. We will recover any land occupied by
the enemy," Nasrallah said.

Earlier, a senior Hizbullah official said the guerrillas did not expect
Israel to react so strongly to its capture of two IDF soldiers this month.

Mahmoud Komati, the deputy chief of the Hizbullah politburo, also said that
his group would not lay down arms.

His comments were the first time that a leader from the terror group has
suggested it miscalculated the consequences of the July 12 cross-border raid
that seized the two.

"The truth is - let me say this clearly - we didn't even expect (this)
response.... that (Israel) would exploit this operation for this big war
against us," said Komati.

He said Hizbullah had expected "the usual, limited response" from Israel.

In the past, he said, Israeli responses to Hizbullah actions included
sending in commandos into Lebanon and kidnapping
Hizbullah officials or briefly targeting specific Hizbullah strongholds in
southern Lebanon.

He said his group had also anticipated negotiations to swap the soldiers
with three Lebanese prisoners in Israeli jails, with Germany acting as a
mediator as it has in past prisoner exchanges.

Komati also gave higher casualty figures for the guerrillas than the 11 the
group has reported so far in the 13-day-old conflict. He said that as of
Monday 25 were killed, including 17 in ground fighting with IDF troops
assaulting several south Lebanese border towns since the weekend.