BEIRUT: Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Friday that a future war waged by Israelagainst Syria or Lebanon could draw thousands of fighters fromcountries including Iran and Iraq.
His comments indicated that the same array of Iranian-backedmilitias - but not countries - currently fighting inSyria in support of President Bashar al-Assad could take part inany future conflict with Israel.
Tensions have risen between Hezbollah and its longtime foeIsrael in recent months since Donald Trump became U.S. president
with his tough talk against Iran.
Israel´s air force chief saidhis country would use all its strength from the start in any newwar with Hezbollah.
"The Israeli enemy must know that if an Israeli war islaunched against Syria or Lebanon, it is not known that thefighting will remain Lebanese-Israeli, or Syrian-Israeli,"Nasrallah said in a televised speech.
"This doesn´t mean there are states that might intervenedirectly.But this could open the way for thousands, evenhundreds of thousands of fighters from all over the Arab andIslamic world to participate - from Iraq, Yemen, Iran,Afghanistan and Pakistan," he said.
Nasrallah has repeatedly warned Israel against attackingLebanon, where the Iran-backed group is based, and fromwhere it sends fighters to support Assad against insurgents.
Experts on the group say the warnings are part of a policyof deterrence that has also included revealing some of itsmilitary capabilities.
Nasrallah said in recent months Hezbollah´s rocket arsenalcan hit any military target in Israel, which is Lebanon´ssouthern neighbour.
He said any Israeli war with Lebanon or the Gaza Strip,which is run by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, would
be "very costly" and that Israel would not be able to win.
Israel has targeted senior Hezbollah commanders in air raidson Syrian soil.But there has been no major confrontationbetween Hezbollah and Israel in Lebanon since a month-long warbetween the two sides in 2006.