JERUSALEM (JTA) — The leader of Hezbollah accused Israel of holding hundreds of bodies of Lebanese and Palestinian terrorists hostage.
Sheik Hassan Nasrallah also reiterated the charge that Israel was responsible for the death of Hezbollah’s top military commander Imad Mugniyeh, who was assassinated nearly a year ago, and said that "Israelis are living in fear of our revenge," during an address from his hiding place in Damascus via a video link.
Nasrallah specifically mentioned the bodies of two terrorists killed during an attack on an Israeli bus in which 38 Israelis were killed. Hezbollah had expected to receive the bodies along with hundreds of other remains in the July 2008 exchange for the bodies of two kidnapped Israeli soldiers, Ynet reported.
Nasrallah said he did not perceive any real differences between President Obama and his predecessor, George Bush, regarding their attitudes toward Israel, which he called "one of absolute support."
He also criticized Egypt for keeping its border crossings with Gaza closed during Israel’s three-week military operation.
Nasrallah also claimed that four Iranian diplomats who disappeared in Lebanon in 1982 during Israel’s invasion of Beirut are still alive and held in an Israeli prison. Israel has said that the four were killed shortly after their abduction. Nasrallah said he brought up the case of the four men strictly as "a humanitarian issue."
