Beirut  - The leader of the Hezbollah Shiite movement, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, said late Monday that his group had the right to possess an air defence system to confront what he called the daily Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace.

"What I want to confirm today is that we have every right to obtain any weapon, including air defence weapons, and we have every right to use them," Nasrallah said at a rally in Beirut's southern suburbs to commemorate the first anniversary of the group's military leader Imad Mughaniyeh.

Mughaniyeh was killed on February 13, 2008, in a car bomb blast in Damascus.

Nasrallah was referring to Israeli media reports that said Hezbollah had obtained advanced air defence weapons. "I don't deny or confirm this," Nasrallah told his followers as they chanted "god is great."

He vowed to continue the resistance against Israel and to avenge Mughaniyeh's assassination, which the group blamed on Israel.

Speaking about the Israeli offensive in Gaza that started last December, Nasrallah said the main lesson "learned from the Gaza war is that the Israeli Army is not capable of winning a battle."

The Israelis did not storm residential areas in the Gaza Strip because they were "scared of facing the resistance," he said.

Referring to the outcome of the recent Israel elections, Nasrallah told his followers, "Do not let the Israelis scare you." He recited a list of Israeli leaders, from Ariel Sharon to Ehud Olmert, and said, "they were all defeated in Lebanon." (dpa)