Iran-backed Hezbollah has "for years" been able to enter Israel, the Lebanese group's leader says, responding for the first time to Israel's discovery of tunnels dug into Israeli territory from Lebanon.
Israel's unveiling of what it called Hezbollah "attack tunnels" last month, and Lebanon's accusation that an Israeli border barrier crosses into its territory, have increased tensions.
Speaking in an interview with local TV, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said Hezbollah did not want to draw Lebanon into a war with Israel.
But he said there was a fear that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might miscalculate before the Israeli elections in April and "do something rash".
He warned that the "resistance axis", as the group refers to itself, Iran and Syria, might change their reaction to Israeli strikes in Syria, including with a bombardment of Tel Aviv.
Both Israel and Hezbollah have already indicated that any new war between them would be greater in scope than the last one, fought in 2006 in Lebanese territory.
"Part of our plan in the next war is to enter into Galilee, a part of our plan we are capable of, God willing. The important thing is that we have this capability and we have had it for years," Nasrallah said.
He added that all of Israel would be the battlefield and reiterated that the group now had precision rockets that could strike deep into Israel.
Nasrallah stopped short of explicitly saying the tunnels were Hezbollah's work, saying "it is not known" if more exist.
Nasrallah indicated the tunnels had been dug long ago and that it was "a surprise" Israel took so long to locate them.
"One of the tunnels discovered goes back 13 years," he said.
