Mountasser Abdallah, Agence France Presse

JIBCHIT, Lebanon, 16 February 2004 — The leader of Hezbollah yesterday warned Israel that his militia would systematically respond to all violations of Lebanon’s sovereignty by the Jewish state.

Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah also told 6,000 followers that he would do everything possible to secure the release of more Arab prisoners currently held in Israel, following a major prisoner swap with Israel brokered by Germany. “We announce to the Israeli enemy that violates Lebanese sovereignty daily that we will henceforth counter any violation, as sometimes in the past, we did not respond systematically,” Nasrallah warned.

“Every Israeli soldier who steps an inch into Lebanese territory... will be killed, wounded or captured,” the Hezbollah leader added.

The meeting of Hezbollah supporters, which took place under a giant tent in the village of Jibchit in southern Lebanon, marked the anniversary of the deaths of two militia leaders killed by Israel in Lebanon.

Nasrallah said his movement reserved the right to stage roadside ambushes and plant anti-personnel mines on the Lebanese side of the border with Israel, or along the “Blue Line” mapped out by the United Nations after Israeli troops withdrew from Lebanon in May 2000 after 22 years of occupation.

“On the ground, we are capable and ready to respond to any territorial violation of the international border and the Blue Line... including in the area near the Shebaa Farms, which are Lebanese and which we want to liberate,” he said.

Hezbollah stages periodic attacks on the Shebaa Farms, a controversial area seized from Syria by Israel in 1967 and now claimed by Lebanon with Damascus’s support.

An Israeli soldier was killed and another seriously wounded on Jan. 19 when their bulldozer was destroyed in a Hezbollah anti-tank rocket attack on the Lebanese side of the border as they searched for roadside bombs. The bulldozer had strayed a few meters into Lebanese territory when the attack occurred. “The enemy does not have the right to ask UNIFIL to defuse bombs,” Nasrallah said, referring to the UN Interim Forces in Lebanon peacekeepers.

He also said the Hezbollah would oppose any attempts to violate Lebanon’s territorial waters, without saying how, and would continue to use anti-aircraft fire to counter Israeli overflights of Lebanon.

Despite repeated UN condemnations, Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace — which regularly spark ineffectual Hezbollah anti-aircraft fire — have been frequent since Israeli troops pulled out from southern Lebanon. The world body has said the flights hinder international efforts to maintain stability on the Israeli-Lebanese border.

Nasrallah vowed to do everything he could to free all Arab prisoners still held in Israel, recover the remains of anti-Israeli fighters and find out what happened to more than 250 Lebanese who he said have gone missing since the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982.