Nasrallah: Hezbollah has 100k fighters; Geagea’s party seeking to ignite civil war

The head of Lebanon’s Hezbollah said Monday that the resistance movement has 100,000 trained and armed fighters at its disposal, speaking after deadly violence in Beirut last week.

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah during a televised speech accused the Lebanese Forces, a Christian party led by Samir Geagea, of being behind the killing of seven Hezbollah members and Shia ally Amal at a rally on Thursday and warned it against sparking any “civil war”.

“I am for the first time forced to announce this number,” Nasrallah said, explaining that he revealed how many Lebanese fighters are in his ranks “to prevent war, not threaten a civil war”, AFP reported.

Nasrallah spoke as tensions simmer in Lebanon over the fate of the judge leading a probe into a port explosion last year that killed more than 210 people, wounded thousands and wrecked swathes of Beirut.

Violence broke out in the heart of Beirut Thursday after supporters of Hezbollah and Amal rallied to call for Judge Tarek Bitar to step down.

Hezbollah and Amal have blamed Lebanese Forces snipers for starting the bloody violence.

Nasrallah called for an investigation to determine who was responsible for the bloodshed, “because we don’t leave our brothers’ blood on the ground” without doing anything about it.

The Hezbollah chief criticized what he called “bias” in the port blast probe, and “political targeting... of our allies and friends”.

“We are very... very keen to know the truth behind this explosion,” he said.

Nasrallah said the Lebanese Forces is the “biggest threat” to Christians in Lebanon, waring that “the party’s project to create civil war in the country.” While “our main war is with the Zionist occupiers,” the party is seeking to falsely portray Hezbollah as Lebanese Christians’ adversary, noted the Hezbollah chief, Press TV wrote.

“We are not considered to be any threat against you, but the Lebanese Forces’ party and its chief are sources of danger to you,” he stated.