HEZBOLLAH WARNS ISRAEL OF ‘NEW PHASE’ IN WAR

BEIRUT The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah said Monday a barrage of rockets from Syria against Israeli forces in the occupied Golan Heights last week opens up “a new phase” in the conflict, warning that Israel proper could be the next target for retaliation.

Hassan Nasrallah said that Israel has been informed through an international body that retaliation inside Israel will take place if it crosses “a red line” in Syria, without providing specifics.

Israel on Thursday unleashed a heavy bombardment against what it said were Iranian military installations in Syria on Thursday. It said it was retaliation for an Iranian rocket barrage on its positions in the Golan. It was the most serious military confrontation between the two bitter enemies to date.

In a televised speech to a rally in Beirut, Nasrallah did not say who carried out the rocket fire into the Golan. He called it retaliation for “Israel’s continued aggression against Syria.” In past weeks, Israel is believed to have carried out a number of strikes against military bases in Syria, killing Iranian and Syrian troops.

“You as an enemy will not be able to continue to target Syria and the axis of resistance without retaliation,” he said The axis of resistance is a reference to Iran and its allies in the region.