Hezbollah No. 2 says group ready for war with Israel

Hezbollah's deputy secretary general, Sheikh Naim Qassem, said his organization is ready for any outbreak in hostilities that may erupt along the border with Israel.

Qassem, who spoke during a remembrance gathering marking three years since Israel and Hezbollah fought a month-long war, said the Shi'ite militia is not waiting for Israel to begin fighting before making the necessary preparations.

Qassem said Israel "is an aggressive entity that can act at any moment and so the organization is always ready and it will prevent Israel from attaining its goals."

Hassan Nasrallah's No. 2 also denounced the United Nations Security Council for what he claims is its failure to condemn Israeli air force reconnaissance missions in Lebanese skies.

"Israeli planes encroach the skies of Lebanon every day no less than 20 times, and this is a blatant violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701," Qassem said. "Does the Security Council take this seriously? It just speaks in low tones so as not to anger Israel, but when there is an isolated incident involving the resistance forces in Lebanon (a reference to the recent explosion of a Hezbollah weapons cache in southern Lebanon), the Security Council fills up pages on the incident and devotes just a few lines to Israel's violations."

"In any event, we don't trust the Security Council nor we do trust the superpowers, but rather ourselves," Qassem said. "The Security Cjouncil is not worthy of being labeled just and neutral, and so the resistance will continue until the liberation of our lands."