Hezbollah Chief Vows ‘Open’ War Against Israel
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
BEIRUT — The chief of Hezbollah vowed today to retaliate against Israeli targets anywhere in the world after accusing the Jewish state of killing the militant Imad Mugniyah in Syria.
Israel ordered its military, embassies, and Jewish institutions overseas to go on alert today, fearing revenge attacks for a car bomb that killed Mugniyah — accused of masterminding dramatic attacks that killed hundreds of Americans in Lebanon in the 1980s.
Hezbollah and its Iranian backers blamed Israel but Israel denied involvement.
In a videotaped eulogy broadcast on a giant screen to thousands attending the south Beirut funeral for Mugniyah, Mr. Nasrallah said Israel had taken the fight outside the “natural battlefield” of Israel and Lebanon.
“You have crossed the borders,” he said. “With this murder, its timing, location, and method — Zionists, if you want this kind of open war, let the whole world listen: Let this war be open.”
