Beirut – Hezbollah Chief Says His Group To Retaliate For Qantar’s Killing

Beirut – Hezbollah leader said on Monday that his group will retaliate for the killing of Lebanese militant Samir Qantar in an Israeli strike in Syria at a time and place of its choice.

The group’s leader pledged to strike back at the Jewish state, but refrained from making any fiery threats during a speech addressing the assassination.

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, in a televised speech Monday evening, said the group will exact revenge but did not make any specific threats.

“It is our right to retaliate for (Kantar’s) assassination in the place, time and manner we deem appropriate. It is our right, and I will add tonight, that we in Hezbollah will practice this right with the help of God,” he said.

Nasrallah was speaking hours after the group buried Qantar in a cemetery in the southern suburb of Beirut in a style usually reserved for its leaders.

Israel and Hezbollah are bitter enemies. The two countries battled to a stalemate during a monthlong war in 2006 during which Hezbollah fired thousands of rockets into Israel and Israel’s air force destroyed wide areas in Lebanon. Since then, Israeli military officials say Hezbollah has upgraded its capabilities and now possesses tens of thousands of rockets and missiles capable of striking anywhere in the country.