Report: Israel Says 'Nasrallah a Target' in Next Hizbullah-Israel War

Israel said that Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah “would be a target for assassination” in any future war between Israel and Hizbullah, Israeli media reports said on Tuesday.

Israeli military chief spokesman, Ronen Manelis, was quoted as saying that “there won’t be a clear victory picture in the text war (with Hizbullah), though it’s clear that Nasrallah is a target.”

He also added that Israel is meanwhile conducting a “psychological and media war against Hizbullah.”

He also said that the Israeli army is “making great efforts and activating its forces openly and secretly to ward off the next war, but at the same time it is clear that the war will be completely different on the other side. The intelligence, operational, maneuvering and firepower capabilities will determine if it is difficult in Israel it will be much harder in Lebanon.”

Israel and Hizbullah have clashed several times, including in a month-long war in 2006 that killed 1,200 Lebanese -- mostly civilians -- and 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers.

Last week, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned in a new report that unauthorized weapons in the hands of Hizbullah and threatening rhetoric from the Lebanese group and Israeli officials "heightens risk of miscalculation and escalation into conflict."

The U.N. chief called on Hizbullah and Israel, "to exercise restraint at all times" and "refrain from potentially inflammatory comments."

Guterres said in the report to the U.N. Security Council that allegations of arms transfers to Hizbullah continue "on a regular basis," which the U.N. takes seriously. But it "is not in a position to substantiate them independently, he said.

Guterres noted, however, that Hizbullah has displayed the weapons and acknowledged using them.

The U.N. resolution that ended the 2006 war calls for Hizbullah and all other groups operating in Lebanon to be disarmed and demobilized. It also calls for the 10,700-strong U.N. peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL to monitor a zone south of the Litani River near Israel's border where Hizbullah is banned from keeping weapons.

Guterres said Israel informed UNIFIL of the alleged presence of Hizbullah weapons and infrastructure in three specific locations in that zone, which the U.N. force closely monitored, including by aerial reconnaissance, satellite imagery and patrols.

But he said "no evidence to confirm the allegations was established."