Hussein DakroubNizar Hassan| The Daily Star

BEIRUT: Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah vowed Friday to press on with the offensive to evict Islamist militants from the outskirts of the northeastern town of Arsal, saying the battle at a later stage would also target ISIS fighters based in the volatile area.

He staunchly rejected charges that Hezbollah was planning to enter Arsal, accusing his rivals in the Future Movement of spreading such rumors as a scare tactic.

“The battle for Arsal’s outskirts has kicked off and will go on until its goals have been achieved. We are not committed to a time limit,” Nasrallah said in a televised speech marking the 30th anniversary of Hezbollah’s youth scouts group, the Mahdi Scouts Association.

“We will take our time. This matter will be decided by military commanders on the field because we are concerned with achieving the goal with the least possible sacrifices. We are not in a hurry,” he added, addressing supporters via video link.

Hezbollah has been fighting jihadi militants on Arsal’s outskirts in recent days, capturing more than a dozen positions and hilltops from the Nusra Front-led fighters from the north, east and south.

The offensive began one month ago on the southern end of the Qalamoun mountain range on Syria’s western border with Lebanon. Fighters from Hezbollah, the Syrian army and their allies slowly moved north toward Arsal’s outskirts, killing hundreds of jihadis and capturing large swaths of territory.

Nasrallah said party fighters took over dozens of square kilometers of territory on Arsal’s outskirts over the past few days. He revealed that the battle in Qalamoun, including Arsal’s outskirts, was never planned to be launched this early, but it was prompted by jihadi attacks on Hezbollah and Syrian army positions.

Nasrallah said the next battle will be with ISIS after expelling Nusra Front militants from the area.

“The next battle will be with the western part of [Arsal’s outskirts], which is controlled by Daesh,” he said, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS. “Daesh exists on Arsal’s outskirts, above Ras Baalbek and Mashareh al-Qaa and close to an area inside Lebanese territories.”

He stressed that Hezbollah has never threatened to attack Arsal. “Not a single Hezbollah official ever said that Hezbollah had a plan to enter Arsal,” Nasrallah said. “We do not want to enter the town and we do not want to get near it. This is the responsibility of the Army and security forces.”

“We are not invaders. We are resistors and liberators,” he added.

He said the Cabinet decision Thursday to task the Army with making the right decision on how to protect Arsal was enough of a national decision to leave the town’s security to the official security and military forces.

Nasrallah implicitly lashed out at Future Movement officials who have warned Hezbollah against entering Arsal, saying the town was a red line and attacking it would spark a sectarian war.

“In your satanic mind, you are assuming that there are some people called Hezbollah … who are willing to enter and fight [Arsal’s] people,” he said, reminding viewers of a speech last month in which he described the people of Arsal as brotherly.

“[They are] creating lies and illusions to re-establish itself in a certain area and call itself a protector and leader, even at the expense of religious and sectarian incitement,” Nasrallah said.

A security source told The Daily Star Friday that Hezbollah had lost 26 fighters since the Qalamoun battle began.

Nasrallah said he salutes the communities from Lebanon’s northern Bekaa Valley for their “awareness and correct understanding of the threats” posed by jihadis, as well as “their willingness to make sacrifices.”

However, he ridiculed rumors saying that Shiite militias were being formed in the area following the example of the Popular Mobilization Committees in Iran. “So far we do not need any popular mobilization committees or even any general mobilization,” Nasrallah said.

He also responded to a Jerusalem Post report published Thursday that quoted an Israeli military official as saying Israel would “evacuate” south Lebanon of its population in a future war with Hezbollah. Nasrallah warned Israel that if it launched a new war on Lebanon, Hezbollah would displace millions of Israelis.

“What’s new? Ever since [Israel] was founded, this entity has been kept standing through murder, destruction, displacement and massacres. So [the military official] is just stating the obvious,” Nasrallah said. “The times when Israel destroyed our homes while its settlements remained intact, destroyed our infrastructure while theirs remained safe, and displaced our people while their settlers stay in the settlements, was over in 2006,” he said.

“Since you are threatening to displace 1.5 million Lebanese, the resistance threatens to displace millions of Israelis in the next war if it is imposed on us,” he said.

Meanwhile, Al-Manar TV station said Hezbollah and the Syrian army Friday captured more territory on Arsal’s southern and eastern outskirts, tightening their grip on jihadis struggling to maintain key hilltops in the area.

The report said Hezbollah fighters took control of the areas of Sarj al-Mamlaha, Al-Aamana, Al-Minyara and the peak of Tallet Wadi al-Fekhteh to the east and south of Al-Rahwe, an area south of Arsal’s outskirts. The TV said the fighters advanced toward Jabal Shaabat al-Qalaa, which it described as a strategic point on the edge of Wadi al-Debb, on the east of the southern Arsal outskirts of Wadi al-Khayl.