Senior Hezbollah official says its fighters ‘love’ war and ‘crave’ a ground war with Israel

Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on Monday said the “possibility for an agreement [with Hamas] is running out as Hezbollah continues to tie itself to Hamas, and refuses to end the conflict”.

Hezbollah officials have previously indicated the group would stand down if a ceasefire agreement is reached between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, while Israel has maintained that it cannot allow militants to amass in the border area in Lebanon’s south.
Mousawi said: “If they [Israel] want to disrupt the security in the region and the whole world – so be it. They are using the language of war with us, while we are lovers of war. After all, fighting is what we do.

“If you asked me, I would have told you that I support a ground war. Only in a ground war can we smash their heads and break their backs.”

He further warned the IDF that it should “remember” who Hezbollah is. “We are the same people we were in 1982, and there is a new generation. We had martyrdom seekers in 1982, and you think that we don’t have them now? Today, there are dozens-time more martyrdom seekers than there were in 1982.”

Months of fighting between Hezbollah and Israel have killed hundreds of mostly combatants in Lebanon, and dozens of civilians and soldiers on the Israeli side, with tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border forced to flee their homes.