Nasrallah Says Arsal Outskirts Advances Will Ease Burden on Army, Vows to Displace 'Millions of Israelis' in Any War

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah noted Friday that his group's military advances against extremist militants in the outskirts of Arsal would “alleviate the burden” on the Lebanese army, which is deployed inside and around the northeastern border town.

“The battle of Arsal's outskirts will greatly alleviate the burden on the army and it will facilitate the steps that the state and the people have asked the army to perform,” said Nasrallah via video link to a rally organized by Hizbullah-affiliated al-Mahdi Scouts.

“Let the government deal with the issue in a serious manner,” added Nasrallah.

On Thursday, the government tasked the army with taking necessary measures to deploy inside Arsal to protect it against possible militant attacks, expressing its “full confidence” in the military institution.

Nasrallah had recently warned that Hizbullah would intervene against the militants of al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State in Arsal's outskirts if the state failed to do so. Since Wednesday, Hizbullah has made a series of military advances in Arsal's outskirts, capturing several posts from al-Nusra's hands.

“The government's decision was clear yesterday when it said that the army should regain the town and protect it. The issue of the town of Arsal is not in the hands of politicians anymore, it is in the hand of the army, and the Lebanese want the Army Command to shoulder this major national responsibility,” added Nasrallah.

Commenting on the controversy that followed his previous speech, Nasrallah clarified that he had “distinguished between the town and its outskirts.”

“No one said that we want to enter Arsal. This town is occupied by the takfiris and the responsibility for regaining the town falls on the state and the army,” he pointed out.

“Their diabolic mind suggested that Hizbullah wants to enter the town of Arsal,” he added.

Hizbullah's chief also accused some Lebanese parties of waging a campaign of “political hypocrisy and deception and malicious and cheap political exploitation.”

“Some people invented a battle called the town of Arsal and started talking about it and started claiming that they were defending Arsal's residents,” he lamented.

Nasrallah noted that “what expedited the battle” of Arsal's outskirts” was a recent Nusra attack on Hizbullah's fighters in the border region between Lebanon and Syria.

He declared that Hizbullah fighters have liberated swathes of Lebanese territory that were “occupied by the takfiris in Arsal's outskirts.”

“A major progress occurred in Flita's outskirts (in Syria's Qalamoun). The latest achievements will give your brothers in the resistance and the Syrian Arab Army the upper hand, both in Qalamoun's outskirts and Arsal's outskirts,” added Nasrallah.

Nasrallah also dismissed accusations that Hizbullah intends to create a militia similar to Iraq's Popular Mobilization forces.

“We do not intend to form brigades or popular mobilization forces,” he stressed.

“At this stage, we need popular solidarity and support and we don't need fighters to achieve our objectives. Until the moment, there is no need for 'popular mobilization forces' or a general popular mobilization,” Nasrallah clarified.

He noted that “the men of the resistance who are fighting in the mountains” are “the sons of these tribes, families and villages.”

Sectarian tensions surged in northern Bekaa in recent days after a number of Baalbek and Hermel tribes announced the formation of what they called al-Qalaa Brigade and said they stood ready to intervene militarily in Arsal's outskirts if Hizbullah gives them the greenlight.

Separately, Nasrallah hit back at recent remarks by a senior Israeli military official, who threatened that the Israeli army would displace more than a million Lebanese from southern Lebanon in any future war with Hizbullah.

The official spoke as the Israeli military approached the conclusion of a week-long domestic front drill simulating conflict on multiple fronts.

“Israel used to fight its wars on our soil, but in the July war and the Gaza wars the war moved to the enemy's territory, which forced it to do domestic front drills,” Nasrallah noted.

“During the latest drill, some Israeli officers addressed threats to Lebanon and said more than a million Lebanese will be displaced, but this is part of a psychological warfare,” he added.

He described the Israeli drill as “an acknowledgment of the capabilities of the resistance.”

“If you are threatening to displace 1.5 million Lebanese, the Islamic resistance in Lebanon is threatening to displace millions of Israelis in the coming war, if it was imposed on Lebanon,” Nasrallah warned.

“We do not fear your war or threats, and nothing has changed if you believe that we are preoccupied with Syria,” he added.

Y.R.