Former Lebanese Parliament member Gen. (Ret.) Wehbe Katicha said in a video posted on the Lebanon YouTube channel on July 15 that the government must confront and defeat Hezbollah.
He said that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah “compares himself to the Israeli arsenal.”
That arsenal, he went on to describe, “consists of 700 attack aircraft, 20 airports, tanks, [air] defense, and, in addition to that, 75 nuclear bombs—each of which can destroy a city the size of Beirut. How do you achieve a balance of power with this? It’s a lie, but he continues to mess around.”
According to a video report by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), he also added: “Can you reach a balance of power like that? It’s like one of you entering the ring with [former American professional heavyweight boxer] Mike Tyson. You can mess around, and he will fall to the ground, but can you survive the blows he will land on you after that? With one blow, he will knock you out.”
Katicha said that the state—meaning the Lebanese government and military, and not local administrations or political parties—must confront and defeat Hezbollah.
“As Lebanese, we confront [Hezbollah] culturally on a daily basis. A military confrontation is unlikely, but it is necessary,” he argued.
