Hezbollah: future Israel war could draw fighters from Iran, Iraq, elsewhere

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BEIRUT - 23 June 2017: Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Friday that a future war waged by Israel against Syria or Lebanon could draw thousands of fighters from countries including Iran, Iraq and Yemen.

His comments indicated that the same array of Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias currently fighting in Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad could take part in any future conflict with Israel.

"The Israeli enemy must know that if an Israeli war is launched on Syria or Lebanon, it is not known that the fighting will remain Lebanese-Israeli, or Syrian-Israeli. This doesn't mean there are states that might intervene directly," he said.

"But this could open the way for thousands, even hundreds of thousands of fighters from all over the Arab and Islamic world to participate," he said in a televised speech.

Nasrallah has repeatedly warned Israel against attacking Lebanon, where the Iran-backed Shi'ite group is based, and from where it sends fighters to support Assad against insurgents.