Hezbollah’s Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah on Thursday vowed to retaliate to the Israeli attack on the party stronghold in south Beirut, in which top party military commander, Fouad Shokr, was killed, stating that the confrontation with Israel has entered a new phase.
Speaking at Shokr’s funeral, Nasrallah said, addressing the Israelis: “You can laugh a lot now, but you will weep much more later, because you don’t know what red lines you have crossed, as we have entered a new phase on all (support) fronts.”
“The (Iran-backed) axis of resistance cannot but respond to the attack on the southern suburb. The Israelis don’t know from which direction the response will come, from the north, east, or south. We are looking for an effective and well-calculated retaliation,” Nasrallah added.
In reference to the assassination of Hamas’ politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh in a targeted Israeli attack in Tehran, hours after the attack on south Beirut, Nasrallah described the Israeli leadership as simple-minded because they should expect a strong response to such provocation.
“Israel has touched on Iran’s sovereignty, national security, and honor since Haniyeh was a guest in Tehran… Now they have to wait for the revenge…”
Rejecting Israel’s accusations that Hezbollah was responsible for the attack on Majdal Shams in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights in which 12 Druze children were killed, Nasrallah said the missile that fell in the playground was actually an Israeli interception rocket that went astray.
“The accusation is totally unjust. The real objective of the Israeli accusations is to sow dissent and hatred between the Druze and the Shiite communities,” he said.
He charged that the Israelis used the Majdal Shams incident as a pretext to attack Shokr.
The head of the pro-Iranian militia also affirmed that Hezbollah’s structure was not shaken by Shokr’s killing, although he was a veteran commander.
“Those assassinated are replaced immediately by new commanders, and we have many, trained and well-prepared to take over.”
In a rhetoric directed to his party’s mostly Shiite popular base, Nasrallah said, “We are paying the price for the support of Gaza, but this battle is worth the big price we are paying.”
Referring to those who are not aligned with the resistance, notably more than half the Lebanese population, Nasrallah described them as “nonhumans.”
