BEIRUT, May 21, (AFP): Hezbollah mobilised thousands of militants in southern Lebanon on Friday in response to week-long Israeli defence exercises due to kick off on Sunday, an official from the Shiite militia group said.
“The Hezbollah fighters have (been instructed) to be completely ready to confront Israeli manoeuvres on Sunday,” Nabil Qaouk told AFP.
“Thousands of our fighters will not go to the polls (for municipal elections on Sunday) and will be prepared from today” for any eventuality, he added.
“In the event of any new attack on Lebanon, the Israelis will not find anywhere in Palestine to hide,” he said.
Israel and Hezbollah fought a month-long war in 2006 that destroyed much of southern Lebanon, largely a Hezbollah stronghold. Israel attacked Lebanon after Hezbollah guerrillas captured two soldiers in a cross-border raid.
Israel estimates that Hezbollah has since stockpiled more than 40,000 rockets, some of which could reach major Israeli population centers.
And last month, Israeli President Shimon Peres accused Syria of providing Scud missiles to Hezbollah, charges that Damascus has denied.
Dubbed “Turning Point 4,” the defence exercises are designed to prepare emergency responses to rocket strikes on Israel, with sirens due to ring out across the country on Wednesday and Israelis head for shelters.

Israel’s Deputy Defence Minister Matan Vilnai emphasised last week that the exercises had been planned long in advance, and had no bearing on the Jewish state’s present relations with its northern neighbours.
Vilnai also said that, as in previous years, Israel has made contact through intermediaries with its northern neighbours, notably Syria, to reassure them of its non-belligerent intentions.
Meanwhile, when Victor Nader, commander of the South Lebanon Army (SLA) special forces, calls his troops they show up promptly. These days, though, the rallying point is a beachside cafe in Israel.
Most of the 23 fighters in his elite unit moved to Israel after the end of the 22-year occupation of Lebanon on May 24, 2000 led to the collapse of the SLA.
But like many of the SLA fighters who fled across the border 10 years ago, they say Israel has done very little in recognition of their support during the conflict.
Trained, financed and armed by Israel, the Christian SLA battled Palestinians and Shiite Hezbollah fighters during the occupation of southern Lebanon.
When the Israeli troops pulled out the militiamen fled, fearing persecution by Hezbollah and others in the area who considered them traitors.
Some 3,000 SLA veterans now live in Israel, often working in low-paying factory, restaurant or cleaning jobs.

Many of them claim they are not getting due recognition for their support for Israeli troops, and that the financial aid they do receive is insufficient.
“For 14 years I fought for Israel, and look what they give us — nothing,” said Bassam Hajjar, one ex-soldier who responded to Nader’s summons to regroup at a cafe in Nahariya, eight kilometres (five miles) from the Lebanese border.
“They did not give us a house, not even a real education,” said Hajjar, a father of four who works at a metallurgical plant.
A fluent Hebrew-speaker, Hajjar is now an Israeli citizen, as are most of the former SLA members who fled to the Jewish state. But he and his friends all say they still sorely miss their native Lebanon.
After chatting over coffee, Nader and his men drove the few kilometres to the Rosh Hanikra border post where Lebanon can be seen through the barbed wire.
“We have 700 SLA men who fell and are buried there, with IDF (Israel Defence Force) badges on their uniforms,” said Nader, a 48-year-old electrician whose towering, muscular frame betrays his military past.
Faddi Taomeh, a former sniper sporting a tight camouflage T-shirt and a web of scars, said the veterans were not asking for much. “We just want to live like everybody else,” he said.
But the men of the SLA special forces know there are not many places that would welcome them.
“No one wants us,” said Nader, who lived in France for several years before moving to Israel in 2008.
France refused him refugee status, citing his role in the SLA “whose human rights violations are notorious.”
The SLA gained notoriety for what Amnesty International said was the “systematic” torture of prisoners, particularly at the infamous Khiam prison in southern Lebanon.
Nader knows he definitely is not welcome in Lebanon, where those former SLA members who did return are often viewed as traitors and faced prison sentences on charges of collaborating with the enemy.
“In 2000 when the IDF pulled out, I knew it was the end of Lebanon,” said Nader.
“I know I will never return,” he added. But in the event of another war, “I will be with Israel.”