Hezbollah vowed on Monday to keep fighting Israel and said it was prepared to face any ground action in Lebanon, after its leader was killed in an airstrike that dealt a seismic blow to the group.
In a televised address, Naim Qassem, the Iran-backed group’s deputy head, said a new leader would be chosen “at the earliest opportunity” to replace Hassan Nasrallah, who enjoyed cult status among his supporters.
He also said the group was prepared for any Israeli ground attack, even though a large number of its top commanders and officers were killed in Israel’s shelling of its strongholds last week.
Hezbollah launched low-intensity cross-border attacks on Israeli troops a day after its Palestinian ally Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, sparking the war in the Gaza Strip.
Israel said earlier this month it was shifting its focus from Gaza to securing its northern border with Lebanon to allow displaced Israelis to return to their homes since October.
It has also not ruled out ground attacks to achieve its objectives.
Israel’s attacks on Lebanon have killed hundreds and forced thousands from their homes, and people across the region fear the violence to come.
Qassim said that Hezbollah “will continue to confront the Israeli enemy in support of Gaza and Palestine, in defense of Lebanon and its people, and in response to killings and massacres of civilians”.
Warning that any conflict with Israel would be long-lasting, he said: “We will face any situation and if Israel decides to enter by land we are ready, the resistance forces are ready for any ground confrontation Are.”
On the other side of the border, Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Galant told troops: “The elimination of Nasrallah is an important step, but it is not the final one.”
“We will use all our capabilities, and that includes you, to ensure the return of Israel’s northern communities,” he said.
– Beirut strike –
Most of Israel’s strikes have targeted Hezbollah strongholds in eastern and southern Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut, the group’s main stronghold.
On Monday, an armed Palestinian group said a drone strike on a building in the Qola district of central Beirut killed three of its members.
The first strike in the city center in years sparked panic, with resident Mohammed al-Hoss, 41, saying “the children were in shock” after his home was damaged.
He said, “We stand with Gaza and support the Palestinian cause, but our country cannot afford to go to war.”
“Our country is in a bad situation. They (Israel) are finished with Gaza and they have come to Lebanon.”
Lebanon’s Health Ministry also reported the attack, saying four people were killed and four others were injured. Israel has not yet commented.
The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas later announced that its leader in Lebanon, Fatah Sharif Abu al-Amin, had been killed along with his wife and two children in another attack on the al-Bas refugee camp in southern Lebanon.
The Israeli military confirmed that it had “eliminated” Sharif in an attack.
Lebanon’s health ministry said six rescue workers linked to Hezbollah were killed in an Israeli strike on Monday.
Around Lebanon, Israeli attacks killed more than 100 people on Sunday, including 45 near the southern city of Sidon, according to the ministry.
Lebanon’s Health Minister Firas Abiad said on Saturday that 1,030 people, including 87 children, had died since September 16.
Filippo Grandi, head of the UN refugee agency, said “more than 200,000 people have been displaced inside Lebanon”, while more than 100,000 have fled to neighboring Syria.
Prime Minister Najib Mikati said up to one million people could be displaced in potentially “the largest displacement movement” in Lebanon’s history.
– Attacks on Yemen –
The violence in Lebanon has raised fears of wider conflict in the region.
On Monday, the Israeli military said it “successfully intercepted a suspicious air target entering Israeli territory from Lebanon”.
Israel said it also carried out strikes on Sunday targeting Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, in which the rebels killed four and wounded 33.
The raid in Yemen came a day after the Houthis said they had launched a missile at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport in an attempt to hit it as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was returning from New York. Were.
Iran has said Nasrallah’s killing would bring about Israel’s “destruction”, although the Foreign Ministry said on Monday it would not deploy any warplanes to counter Israel.
Lebanon began a three-day national mourning for Nasrallah on Monday, with flags flying at half-mast.
In Israel, some had mixed feelings about the assassination of the Hezbollah chief.
“Nasrallah was responsible for the deaths of many Israelis, so this is good news,” said Matan Sofer, 24, in the northern town of Rosh Pina.
“But are we at risk of it getting worse, who knows?”
– call to stop –
World leaders have called for reducing tensions.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot met the Lebanese prime minister in Beirut on Monday and said his government demanded an “immediate halt” to the attacks.
He is the first high-level foreign diplomat to visit since Israeli attacks intensified.
US President Joe Biden, whose government is Israel’s top arms supplier, said on Sunday that a wider war “really must be avoided”.
In Gaza, AFP journalists said the number of airstrikes had dropped significantly across the territory in recent days.
Hamas’ unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7 killed 1,205 people, mostly civilians, including hostages killed in captivity, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Israeli retaliatory military strikes have killed at least 41,615 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to figures provided by the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The UN has described the figures as reliable.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
