Nasrallah blames MTV for Kahale clash, says some want civil war or partition

Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Monday blamed MTV, without naming it, for the deadly clash in the town of Kahale, as he warned that some political leaders and forces are “pushing the country to explosion and civil war.”

“A known TV station sounded the alarm and incited the people after which a number of young men arrived and some brought weapons,” Nasrallah said in a televised address marking the end of the 2006 war with Israel.

“The investigation will reveal who attacked whom,” Nasrallah added, noting that Hezbollah is “fully ready” to cooperate with investigators.

Nasrallah also called on the judiciary to address MTV’s coverage of the Kahale incident, apparently referring to the breaking news alerts sent by the channel’s mobile phone application.

“Had it not been for the incitement of this known and malicious TV channel, the incidents at the Kahale curve would not have happened. The party to primarily blame for the possible repercussions of what could have happened in the country and the bloodshed is this malicious TV channel,” Nasrallah charged.

He also said that there are political leaders, figures and forces in addition to some media outlets and “electronic armies” who are pushing the country to “explosion and civil war.”

“These forces might be seeking to convince the Lebanese public opinion that the solution is partitioning (the country), but the Lebanese people will not allow partition,” Nasrallah added.

“Who are you betting on if you want to make a civil war? Are you betting on Israel, which is different than the Israel of 1982?” Nasrallah asked.

“Is it in the interest of Lebanon and Christians to go to civil war?” he wondered.

Nasrallah also denied a media report claiming that the Kahale arms truck had been headed for the unrest-hit Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Helweh.

“The South is full of ammunition and we don't have to send ammunition to Ain el-Helweh from the Bekaa or Syria,” he said sarcastically.

A Hezbollah member and a resident of Kahale, both of whom were armed, were killed in an exchange of gunfire after the truck flipped over on the international highway that passes through the town.

The violence started after some residents learned that the truck belonged to Hezbollah. They surrounded it and demanded to know what was inside before a fistfight ensued between two individuals.

Footage available online also shows Kahale residents hurling rocks at the overturned truck and its Hezbollah guards and the Hezbollah members brandishing weapons and shooting in the area. Another video shows a short-distance exchange of gunfire between Hezbollah members and Fadi Bejjani, the Kahale man who was killed in the violence. The identity of the individual who fired the first shot is still unclear.

Separately, Nasrallah said Hezbollah could send Israel "back to the stone age," in tit-for-tat threats following similar Israeli remarks.

During a tour of the Lebanese-Israeli border last week, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had threatened to send Lebanon "back to the stone age" should Hezbollah escalate tensions at the border.

Nasrallah said Monday: "You too will be returned back to the stone age... if you go to war with Lebanon."

The comments come amid increased tensions along the border area between Israel and Lebanon, which remain technically at war.

Nasrallah said it would take "a few high-precision missiles" for his group to destroy targets including "civilian and military airports, airbases, power stations... and the Dimona (nuclear) power station."

If a future conflict "draws in the resistance axis... there will be no such thing called Israel anymore," he said, referring to Hezbollah's regional allies including some Palestinian factions and other Iran-backed groups.