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ANDERSON COOPER: Well, Hezbollah is also counting on their leader, Hassan Nasrallah, who today said he plans to take the battle beyond Haifa.

CNN's Michael Ware joins me now from Beirut. Michael, what do you think he meant by that?

MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, I suspect that he means geographical expansion of the range of their attacks. So I dare say that whilst it may involve some kind of escalation in terms of tactics and operations, I think immediately it could mean that they plan on using perhaps longer-range weapons or weapons to greater effect within Israel.

COOPER: There's also of course this propaganda war being waged. Israeli Defense Forces saying they've captured more than 100 Hezbollah rockets. They say they've captured a significant Hezbollah leader in the last 24 hours in south Lebanon. We're also hearing from Hezbollah really a completely different story. They're contradicting virtually all the things the Israeli Defense Forces are saying.

WARE: Yes, absolutely, Anderson. And from spending time with Lebanese -- senior Lebanese army officials, generals, from talking to Hezbollah representatives, and defense analysts and academics here in Lebanon, one thing is very, very clear. This war with Hezbollah has only just begun. They barely scratched the surface of this organization.

And in terms of the IDF, the Israeli Defense Force operations in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese here are saying that these do not have the significance that the IDF would like the world to believe.

These townships that they are assaulting or have captured, they say have a strategic advantage in terms of terrain. But in terms of Hezbollah and its command structure and its arsenal, they are minimal at best. They're saying that this is very much overblown.

And what they argue is what we will see now is Hezbollah trying to draw the Israeli forces deeper into Lebanon, stretch their supply lines, and then attack them where they're weakest.

COOPER: Every Israeli officer I talked to seems to have, I don't know if respect is the right word, but an understanding of the strengths of Hezbollah. These guys have been in this territory for a long period of time. They have entrenched positions. What about the Lebanese military? Do they have any capabilities if they wanted to, either to battle Hezbollah, if things turn that way, or if they joined with Hezbollah, as some Lebanese have threatened they would, what would that mean?

WARE: Well, Anderson, I think it's very, very clear, even at this point, that given those choices, the Lebanese army see a very clear path. It would not be to battle Hezbollah, but it would be to join them.

You look at the Lebanese army official Web site, and it refers to Hezbollah as Lebanese resistance. In fact, the way it was painted to me by both Hezbollah and Lebanese army officials is that, essentially, the defense of Lebanon cannot possibly be hoped to be left to the Lebanese army.

So in essence, for a long time now, it has been contracted out to Hezbollah. If the Lebanese army stood toe to toe with the Israeli Defense Forces, one Hezbollah official said they wouldn't last a day. One Lebanese general said they wouldn't last an hour. The only way to defend Lebanon, they say, is guerilla warfare, insurgency warfare, of the very kind that Hezbollah is so adept at and the Lebanese army is just not equipped for.

COOPER: And of course, that's why so many governments, including the U.S, are saying some sort of international force would be needed to essentially occupy south Lebanon. And at the same time, trying to build up that Lebanese military.

Michael Ware, appreciate your reporting from Beirut for us.