Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah as seen on Al Manar TV during his speech on 16 February 2022.
Hezbollah possesses the ability to convert thousands of its rockets into guided missile as well as to manufacture drones locally in Lebanon, the group’s Secretary-General, Hassan Nasrallah, said on February 16.
Nasrallah made the revelation during a lengthy televised speech meant to commemorate three of Hezbollah early leaders.
“We now possess the ability to transform our thousands of rockets into precision-guided missiles,” Nasrallah said, “We started that years ago and converted a large number of our missiles into precision-guided ones, so we do not need to bring them from Iran.”
“We have been producing drones in Lebanon for a long time, and whoever wants to buy them should submit an order,” he added. “Our men are able to keep pace with all advancement, we are ready for all developments in the military industry.”
Nasrallah also touched on Israel’s repeated strikes on Syria, which are usually promoted as attacks on Hezbollah-bound weapons shipments.
“The enemy tries throughout its aggression in Syria to prevent the reach of precision-guided weapons to the resistance in Lebanon. I tell the Israelis that what they call a war-between-wars has turned the threat into an opportunity for the resistance,” the leader said.
Hezbollah leader also warned Israel against carrying out any special operation inside Lebanon to search for advanced weapons.
“Should the enemy dare to carry out a certain operation in search of our missiles, it might face an ‘Ansariyeh 2’ operation,” Nasrallah said referring to the Israeli 1997 landing on the shore of the southern Lebanese town of Ansariyeh’s, in which 12 of its elite Shayetat troops were killed by local resistance forces.
Hezbollah has been building advanced offensive capabilities to deter Israel with direct support from Iran and Syria since the early 2000s.
These efforts have been paying off. Since the war of 2006, Israel has not conducted any large-scale operation in Lebanon in order to avoid a response by Hezbollah. This situation will not likely change anytime soon, especially that the group’s offensive capabilities are improving as confirmed by Nasrallah.
