Hezbollah vowed to attack Israel more aggressively in response to the assassination of a senior commander of the Lebanese armed group and political party Abu Taleb earlier this week.
Sami Abdallah, also known as Abu Taleb, was among four Hezbollah members killed in a strike on the southern Lebanese village of Jouaiya on Tuesday night, some 15 kilometres from the Israeli border.
Senior Hezbollah official Hashem Saffieddine delivered a speech at Abdallah’s funeral on Wednesday.
Our response after the martyrdom of Abu Taleb will be to intensify our operations in severity, strength, quantity and quality.
His comments came after Hezbollah had already fired more than 200 rockets into northern Israel. It was the largest shelling since fighting erupted near the Lebanon-Israel border on 8 October.
Let the enemy wait for us in the battlefield.
Abdallah is also among 300 Hezbollah fighters killed since the conflict began. More information has since emerged about Abdallah, who was the commander of the Nasr Unit in charge of part of the border area.
Regional unrest
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein stated after meeting with Iran’s acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani that “the war is not only a danger to Lebanon but to the entire region.”
Ahead of the G7 meeting, at which a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel would top the agenda, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan stated that the leaders would also discuss the situation in Lebanon.
US President Joe Biden would discuss “the increasing intensity and scope of the strikes by Hezbollah deeper into Israel, and including into civilian areas,” Sullivan said.
Hezbollah claims it carries out attacks in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas in the Gaza Strip, where more than 37,100 people have been killed in Israeli retaliation. The group also states that it will not stop its attacks until a ceasefire is reached in Gaza.
