Hezbollah_video_sends_Israel_‘message_of_deterrence’(360p)

Hezbollah video sends Israel ‘message of deterrence’

Transcript

00:00Hezbollah has threatened Israel with new weapons that it claims are now in its

00:04arsenal, including precision and non-precision missiles. The information

00:08was released in a video that appears to have been filmed in a series of tunnels.

00:12There's been fear of an all-out war since an Israeli strike in Beirut that

00:16killed Hezbollah's top military commander in July. Israel blamed the

00:20commander, Fouad Chouka, for a previous attack on the occupied Golan Heights.

00:26For more on this, let's go live to Beirut and speak to our correspondent

00:29Zeyna Hoda. Zeyna, tell us a little bit more about what was in this Hezbollah

00:32video message.

00:37Well, Hezbollah's message is that Israel will expect a reality it didn't, or face

00:43a reality it didn't expect. Hezbollah is saying that it has military

00:47capabilities, it is ready for war. This really is a message of deterrence. The

00:52timing of this video, and we've seen similar videos in recent weeks, the

00:56timing of this specific video amid heightened tensions. Hezbollah making it

01:01very clear yesterday that regardless of the outcome of talks in Doha on a Gaza

01:05ceasefire deal, the group intends to respond to the assassination of its top

01:10military commander. So what Hezbollah is telling Israel is that we will respond,

01:14but if you respond disproportionately, then we are ready for war. So this is

01:19Hezbollah still, through its actions, through its words, saying that it doesn't

01:23want to fall on war, but it is ready. In this video, it shows what it appears to

01:29be precision-guided missiles on trucks moving through an underground military

01:35facility, a tunnel system. So another message there that Israel will not be

01:39able to reach these weapons. So Hezbollah really trying to deter Israel

01:44from widening this conflict. And that is really the biggest question. After

01:48Hezbollah carries out this attack, it didn't say when it plans to do so, what

01:52kind of a response will it trigger by Israel? And could this conflict, which

01:56is largely confined to the border area, widen? And also a flurry of diplomatic

02:00activity there in Lebanon in recent days, also trying to deter from a wider

02:05conflict. What can you tell us about that?

02:11Well, on Wednesday, the US envoy Amos Hoxton was in Lebanon. 24 hours later,

02:16the French foreign minister, today the Egyptian foreign minister, his country

02:20is taking part in talks in Doha on that Gaza, on a possible Gaza ceasefire

02:25deal. What we understand is that he updated officials in Lebanon about the

02:29outcome of those talks over the past 24 hours. The Gaza ceasefire deal really

02:34is key to de-escalate tensions. This is how Western nations sees it. It's a

02:38condition that Hezbollah has put in place in order to halt the firing. But

02:42the biggest question is, will a Gaza ceasefire deal be enough for Israel to

02:46calm tensions along the Israel-Lebanon border? Will it end that conflict? Or

02:52does Israel want Hezbollah to pull back from the border? So a lot of

02:55uncertainty and really heightened tensions at this time. Zaina Hodder

03:00bringing us the very latest there from Beirut. Thanks, Zaina.