Hezbollah warns Israel will face harsh retaliation or any attacks on its members

Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, speaks via video link to his supporters during a ceremony marking the death of six Hezbollah fighters and an Iranian general who were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Syria’s Golan Heights last week, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Jan. 30, 2015. Nasrallah said his group will no longer abide by any rules of engagements suggesting he has the right to retaliate to any future Israeli attack at the place and time Hezbollah choses. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein) (The Associated Press)

Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, speaks via video link to his supporters during a ceremony marking the death of six Hezbollah fighters and an Iranian general who were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Syria’s Golan Heights last week, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Jan. 30, 2015. Nasrallah said his group will no longer abide by any rules of engagements suggesting he has the right to retaliate to any future Israeli attack at the place and time Hezbollah choses. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein) (The Associated Press)

The leader of the militant Hezbollah group said this week's cross-border attack was a message that it will no longer tolerate any Israeli attacks against its members.

Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah told thousands of supporters in south Beirut Friday that Hezbollah does not fear war and is ready if Israel provokes further violence.

It was Nasrallah's first comments since six Hezbollah fighters and an Iranian general were killed on Jan. 18 in an Israeli airstrike in Syria. The group retaliated on Wednesday with a cross-border rocket attack that killed two Israeli soldiers and wounded seven.

Nasrallah said Hezbollah will no longer abide by any rules of engagement, stating that Hezbollah has the right to retaliate against any future Israeli attack at the time and place of its choosing.