Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah said that if the explosion that took place last week in Beirut, Lebanon, turns out to be an act of sabotage by Israel, then it would “pay an equal price.”

Al Arabiya reports that the group is waiting for the results of a probe into the incident. Lebanon’s president, Michel Aoun had previously said investigators were looking into negligence, an accident, or “external interference”.

Nasrullah said the two theories under investigation were that an accident, or sabotage, had caused the ammonium nitrate stored at a warehouse at the port of Beirut, to explode, killing 172 people and injuring 6,000 others. Much of the city has been damaged and some 300,000 residents have been left homeless. Israel has denied any involvement in blast.

Nasrallah speculated that a deliberate fire or the planting of a small bomb could have been among sabotage possibilities. He said, “Who could be behind an act of sabotage? It could be this side or that, and it could be Israel, which nobody can deny.” Nasrullah added that if it was found that Israel had a role in the ammonium nitrate explosion, then, “not only Hezbollah will respond. The entire Lebanese state … must respond.”

Meanwhile, Al Arabiya reports that Lebanon’s Prosecutor General has pressed charges against 25 people, including senior port and customs officials.

Umm Muhammed Umar