Israeli soldiers teargas gathering in southern Lebanon

By Hamdi Yildiz and Hacer Baser

BEIRUT (AA) - Israeli soldiers attacked Hezbollah supporters with tear gas shells as they celebrated the 21st anniversary of Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon, local media reported on Wednesday.

According to Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA), the Israeli soldiers intervened in a demonstration in the southern Lebanese town of Al Adeyse bordering Israel on Tuesday, attempting to disperse it with tear gas shells.

Hezbollah supporters gathered along the border to mark the 21st anniversary of Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000.

A large number of people arrived in the area in hundreds of vehicles, waving Palestine and Hezbollah flags.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah on Tuesday warned that if Israel continued its violations in occupied East Jerusalem, "a regional war could break out, which will result in the destruction of this country [Israel].”

Delivering a speech on the 21st anniversary of the end of Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon, Nasrallah in his address said: "You should be aware that violating Al-Quds [Jerusalem] and Al-Aqsa Mosque is unlike any other violation you practice."

"The enemy's leadership must repeat its calculations after the war on Gaza ... and any violation of Al-Aqsa or Islamic sanctities, in general, must not be faced by the resistance in Gaza only. The equation must be a regional war for Al-Quds [Jerusalem]," he said.

He added: "When Islamic and Christian sanctities face threats, there won't be any red lines."

Noting that the Palestinian resistance groups in Gaza have achieved great military success against Israel, Nasrallah stated that this success has once again given credit to the Palestinian cause and invalidated the US' so-called peace plan "deal of the century."

At least 254 Palestinians, including 66 children and 39 women, were killed, and more than 1,900 others injured in 11 days of massive Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip earlier this month, according to Palestinian health authorities.

The violence erupted against the backdrop of tension over an Israeli court ruling to evict Palestinian families from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem and police assaults on worshippers inside the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Thirteen Israelis were also killed in Palestinian rocket fire from the Gaza Strip. The fighting, the fiercest in years, came to a halt on Friday under an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire.​​​​​​​