Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, who gave a televised address on Monday evening, declaring the right to retaliate for the assassination of Samir Kuntar as he sees fit. Photo: Wikipedia.

Hezbollah does not want a confrontation with Israel over the assassination of terrorist Samir Kuntar, an Israeli military source told Hebrew news site 0404 on Tuesday.

“[Hezbollah chief Hassan] Nasrallah does not want to provoke Israel,” the source said, following a televised address on Monday in which Nasrallah blamed Israel for the assassination and declared his organization would retaliate at the time and in the place of its choosing.

The IDF source explained that in spite of Nasrallah’s tough talk, his threats were empty, because of his awareness that Israel would preempt, thwart and respond forcefully to any attack. Israel, said the source, would not sit idly by, even as Russia and the US-led international coalition targets terrorist in Syria.

“Whomever threatens Israel will suffer the consequences,” he said.