Editor-DN
Beirut:
Hezbollah vowed to continue fighting Israel on Monday and said it was ready to face any ground action in Lebanon after its leader was killed in an airstrike that left the group in an earthquake-prone state. Shocked.
In a televised address, Naim Qassem, deputy head of the Iran-backed group, said a new leader would replace Hassan Nasrallah, who is a cult figure among his supporters, “at the earliest opportunity.” will be done
He also said the group was ready for any Israeli ground attack, even though Israel bombed its strongholds last week, killing a number of its top commanders and officials.
Hezbollah launched low-intensity cross-border attacks on Israeli troops after its Palestinian ally Hamas launched its unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, sparking a 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 Israelis displaced since October to return to their homes.
It has also not ruled out a ground attack to achieve its goals.
Israel’s attacks on Lebanon have killed hundreds of people and forced hundreds of thousands from their homes, and people across the region fear more violence.
Qassem said Hezbollah “will continue to fight the Israeli enemy in support of Gaza and Palestine, in defense of Lebanon and its people and in response to the killings of civilians”.
Warning that any war with Israel would be prolonged, he said: “We will face any scenario and we are ready for any ground confrontation if Israel decides to enter by land. ready for.”
On the other side of the border, Israeli Defense Minister Yves Gallant told troops: “The elimination of Nasrallah is an important step, but it is not final.”
“To ensure the return of Israel’s northern communities, we will use all our capabilities, and that includes you,” he said.
– Beirut Strike –
Most of the Israeli strikes have targeted Hezbollah strongholds in eastern and southern Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut, the group’s main stronghold.
On Monday, a drone strike hit a building in the Kola district of central Beirut, which an armed Palestinian group said killed three of its members.
The strike, the first in years in the city centre, sparked panic, with 41-year-old resident Mohammad Al-Hous saying “the children were in shock” after his home was damaged.
“We stand with Gaza and support the Palestinian cause, but our country cannot afford to go to war with us,” he said.
“Our country is in a bad state. They (Israel) have left Gaza and come to Lebanon.”
Lebanon’s Ministry of Health also reported the attack, saying that four people were killed and four were injured. Israel has yet to comment.
The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas later announced that its leader in Lebanon, Fateh 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 it had “eliminated” Sharif in a strike.
Lebanon’s health ministry said six aid workers affiliated with Hezbollah were killed in an Israeli strike on Monday.
Around Lebanon, Israeli strikes killed more than 100 people on Sunday, including 45 near the southern city of Sidon, according to the ministry.
Lebanese Health Minister Firas Abiad said on Saturday that 1,030 people, including 87 children, had been killed since September 16.
“More than 200,000 people have been displaced inside Lebanon,” while more than 100,000 have fled to neighboring Syria, said Filippo Grandi, head of the UN refugee agency.
Prime Minister Najib Meqati said up to one million people had been uprooted, possibly in the “biggest displacement movement” in Lebanon’s history.
– Yemen Attack –
The violence in Lebanon has raised fears of wider unrest in the region.
On Monday, the Israeli military said it “successfully intercepted a suspicious aerial target that entered Israeli territory from Lebanon”.
Israel said it also carried out airstrikes targeting the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen on Sunday, which the rebels said killed four people and wounded 33.
The attacks in Yemen came a day after the Houthis said they had fired missiles at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport and attempted to hit it as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was returning from New York.
Iran has said the killing of Nasrallah would lead to the “destruction” of Israel, although the Foreign Ministry said on Monday it would not deploy any fighters to confront Israel.
Lebanon began three days of national mourning for Nasrallah on Monday, with flags flying at half-mast.
Some in Israel had mixed feelings about the assassination of the Hezbollah chief.
“Nasrullah was responsible for the death of many Israelis, so this is good news,” said Matan Sofer, 24, in the northern town of Rosh Pina.
“But do we risk making it worse, who knows?”
– demand to stop –
World leaders have called for a reduction in tensions.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barot met with the Lebanese prime minister in Beirut on Monday and said his government had demanded an immediate halt to the attacks.
He is the first high-level foreign diplomat to visit since the Israeli attacks intensified.
US President Joe Biden, whose government is the biggest arms supplier to Israel, said on Sunday that a full-scale war “really must be avoided”.
AFP journalists in Gaza said the number of airstrikes across the region had dropped significantly in recent days.
According to AFP figures based on official Israeli data, including those taken hostage, Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel on October 7 killed 1,205 people, most of them They were ordinary citizens.
At least 41,615 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Gaza in Israel’s military response, according to figures provided by the Health Ministry of the Hamas-ruled territory. The United Nations has declared these figures reliable.
(Other than the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
