Hizballah: 'Israel will be destroyed after Trump's Jerusalem move'

The leader of Lebanon’s powerful militant and political group Hizballah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, proclaimed on Monday that his organisation would renew its focus on the Palestinian cause

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab & agencies

11 December, 2017

Melania, rein your husband in, read one banner at the protest [AFP]

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Lebanon's powerful militant and political group Hizballah, proclaimed on Monday that Donald Trump's move to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is "the beginning of the end" for the Jewish state.

Nasrallah called on Hizballah's allies to put in place a united strategy "in the field" to confront Israel. The Iran-backed group has been fighting in Syria alongside Bashar al-Assad's regime, who has managed to prevail as the strongest party in the country's civil war.

Thousands of supporters of Hizballah demonstrated in Beirut on Monday, chanting "Death to America!" and "Death to Israel!" in protest over the US decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Protesters marched through the Iran-backed Shia movement's south Beirut bastion, carrying banners reading "Jerusalem, Eternal Capital of Palestine" and "Jerusalem is Ours".

Nasrallah had called for the demonstration last week after US President Donald Trump decided to upend decades of diplomatic protocol by recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

The move has been widely condemned and sparked days of protest across the Middle East.

"Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine and will be until Judgement Day," said Iman Ghadbun, 28, attending the protest with her seven-year-old daughter.

Israel fought a devastating war against Hizballah in Lebanon in 2006 that killed more than 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and 120 Israelis, most of them soldiers.

Israel withdrew its forces from southern Lebanon in 2000, ending a 22-year occupation, but the two countries remain technically at war and there have been occasional skirmishes on the border.