Hezbollah warns Israel of retaliation

Beirut:  Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah movement will attack ships bound for Israel's coast if the Jewish state puts Lebanese shores under siege in any future conflict, the group's leader Hassan Nasrallah said.

"In any future war, if you blockade our coasts and ports, all civilian and military vessels heading for the ports of Palestine along the Mediterranean will be within the range of the fire of the Islamic resistance," Nasrallah said yesterday on the tenth anniversary of Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon.

"We are able to target and hit them and we are determined to enter into this new field in the confrontation if our ports are surrounded."

Israel, which invaded its neighbour in 1982, pulled its troops out of southern Lebanon 10 years ago, ending an 18-year occupation.

The Jewish state fought a month-long war with Hezbollah in 2006, and has accused Syria of supplying the group with Scud missiles, allegations Lebanon and Syria deny.

Israel has said it will hold Lebanon's government, of which Hezbollah is a member, responsible for attacks on the Jewish state from Lebanese territory. Nasrallah said Hezbollah would defend itself if attacked.