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

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah rejected German diplomats’ warnings against retaliating for the alleged Israeli assassination of a senior Hezbollah operative near Damascus, Lebanese newspaper Aliwaa reported on Wednesday.

According to the report, German diplomats, likely relaying a message directly from Israel, told the Hezbollah leader Israel’s response to an attack by Hezbollah over the death of Samir Kuntar would be “forceful and costly.”

Nasrallah rebuffed the German diplomats however, going on air on Sunday and saying that retribution was inevitable, no matter the consequences.

Meanwhile, the IDF has continued clearing forests and carving out small cliffs near the border with Lebanon to make infiltration of the country more difficult and detectable. Military officials have warned Hezbollah could try and take over an entire Israeli town or village. Locals have reported stricter security since Kuntar’s death.

Israeli reports also emerged this week saying the IDF was laying concrete barriers at a stretch of highway running along the scenic Israeli-Lebanese border to fortify against a Hezbollah attack.

Analysts however have said Hezbollah would probably not retaliate in the immediate future for Kuntar’s death because the group is bogged down in Syria, fighting on the side of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Iran, which organized Hezbollah and backs Assad, had reportedly been employing Kuntar when he was killed.