TEHRAN: Iran said on Saturday it expects Lebanon’s Hezbollah group to hit deeper inside Israel and no longer be confined to military targets after an Israeli strike in South Beirut killed Hezbollah’s top military commander, Fuad Shukr, and a subsequent attack in Tehran that killed Hamas’s political leader Ismail Haniyeh.
In a statement on Saturday, Iran’s mission to the United Nations said that Hezbollah is expected to expand its targets beyond military positions and strike deeper inside Israeli territory. The statement, reported by the official IRNA news agency, reflects heightened tensions and a shift in the operational scope of Hezbollah’s response.
“We expect Hezbollah to choose more targets and to strike deeper in its response,” the mission said. “Secondly, that it will not limit its response to military targets.”
This announcement comes in the wake of a recent Israeli airstrike in a densely populated residential area of South Beirut, which killed Shukr and five civilians, including three women and two children.
Israel has stated that Shukr was responsible for rocket fire that resulted in the deaths of 12 people in the Golan Heights and had played a central role in directing Hezbollah’s attacks against Israel since October.
The recent escalation marks a significant shift, as previous Hezbollah operations were largely confined to targeting military positions along the border and avoiding civilian areas. The strike on South Beirut, however, is seen as crossing a red line, prompting Iran’s warning of a more extensive and potentially devastating response from Hezbollah.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has vowed retaliation, stating that both Israel and its allies “must await our inevitable response” for the killings of Shukr and Haniyeh. The group’s ongoing exchanges of fire with Israeli forces have been described as part of a broader response to the ongoing Gaza conflict.
Iranian state media outlet The Kayhan daily predicted that retaliatory operations would be “more diverse, more dispersed, and impossible to intercept.” The publication reported that future targets could include major Israeli cities such as Tel Aviv and Haifa, as well as strategic locations and the residences of officials involved in the recent strikes.
“This time, areas such as Tel Aviv and Haifa and the strategic centres and especially residences of some officials involved in the recent crimes are among the targets,” Kayhan in an opinion piece.
On Friday, an Iranian state TV presenter hinted at imminent, significant events in Israel, heightening anticipation of a potentially large-scale response. “Astounding and major events” are expected to unfold “in the coming hours,” the presenter said.
