Pat Dollard | Young Americans

BEIRUT, Lebanon - The chief of Hezbollah vowed Thursday to retaliate against Israeli targets anywhere in the world after accusing the Jewish state of killing the militant Imad Mughniyeh in Syria.

Hezbollah and its Iranian backers blamed Israel but Israel denied involvement.

In a videotaped eulogy broadcast on a giant screen to thousands attending the south Beirut funeral for Mughniyeh, Nasrallah said Israel had taken the fight outside the “natural battlefield” of Israel and Lebanon.

“You have crossed the borders,” he said. “With this murder, its timing, location and method — Zionists, if you want this kind of open war, let the whole world listen: Let this war be open.”

Moughniyah, hunted by Israel and the United States for two decades, was killed by a bomb in Damascus on Tuesday.

Shi’ite Muslim Hezbollah and its main backer Iran accused Israel of killing him. Israel rejected the charge, though its Mossad spy service had long sought to kill him.

The Jewish state put its embassies and other interests abroad on high alert and boosted troop deployments on the Lebanese border for fear of reprisal.

“We have the right, like all human beings, of self-defence and, God willing, we will do whatever is required to defend our brothers, leaders, people and our country,” Nasrallah said, addressing the mass funeral via video link.

He said the group’s initial investigation into the killing showed that Israel was behind it. He gave no details.