BEIRUT: The head of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group on Friday warned Israel that it will swiftly respond to the killing of Hamas’s deputy leader in one of its Beirut strongholds in the battlefield.
Hassan Nasrallah in a televised speech said the response is inevitably coming. He said the group cannot remain silent on a violation of this magnitude because it means the whole of Lebanon would be exposed.
In his second speech since the killing of Saleh al-Aruri, he said the decision is now in the hands of the battlefield.
“Fighters from all areas of the border… will be the ones responding to the dangerous violation in the suburbs,” he added.
A, Israeli strike on Tuesday killed Aruri in Hezbollah’s south Beirut stronghold. He is the most high-profile Hamas leader to be killed during the war.
Nasrallah warns Israel against imposing war on Lebanon
Earlier, in a speech on Wednesday, Nasrallah warned Israel against imposing a war on Lebanon.
He termed the attack as a major and dangerous crime which will not go unanswered and unpunished.
The group on Wednesday announced several strikes on Israeli troops and positions. Hassan Nasrallah said Israel has been weakened adding that Israel is now on the path to extinction.
Hezbollah and Israel have exchanged -daily fire over their border since the Israel-Hamas war started on October 7. The Aruri killing has led to fears of an escalation in the war.
Since hostilities started, 170 people have been killed on the Lebanese side.