Lebanon’s Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Thursday said that Israel has delivered an “unprecedented” blow to his group, crossing “all red lines” with a mass bombing attack on their communications devices that killed 37 people and injured nearly 3,000 within two days.
Nasrallah made these remarks during his first televised appearance following the attacks on pagers and walkie-talkies across Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Many suffered severe wounds to their legs, abdomens, and faces, with some losing the use of their hands. Tuesday’s pager blasts killed 12 people, including two children, and injured around 2,300 others. The explosion the following day resulted in 25 more deaths and over 600 additional injuries.
“With this operation, the enemy crossed all… red lines,” Nasrallah stated, accusing Israel of trying to “kill no fewer than 5,000 people” in “a major and unprecedented… blow” to the group.
The Hezbollah chief also noted that his group will continue fighting Israel for as long as the Gaza war lasts, and stated that they are investigating how the bombings were carried out.
“The Lebanese front will not cease until the aggression against Gaza stops,” he said, referring to the bloodshed over the past two days.
Israel will face “tough retribution, just punishment”
He also stated that Israel will face “tough retribution and just punishment, both where it expects it and where it does not,” while refusing to disclose any details about the timing, location, or nature of Hezbollah’s response.
Nasrallah warned that Israel would not be able to return displaced residents from the north back to their homes through military means.
“You will not be able to return the people of the north to the north,” he said, cautioning that “no military escalation, no killings, no assassinations and no all-out war can return residents to the border.”
As Nasrallah delivered his speech from an undisclosed location, Hezbollah and the Israeli military exchanged new strikes along the border. Israeli warplanes flew low over Beirut, breaking the sound barrier and causing panic among birds and prompting people in their homes and offices to rush to open windows to prevent glass shattering.
Concerns are growing that 11 months of crossfire between the two sides may escalate into full-scale war, especially following this week’s unprecedented bombings across Lebanon and in Syria, which targeted hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah.
The latest attack coincides with Israeli leaders warning of a possible escalation in military operations against Hezbollah, saying they are determined to stop the group’s fire and allow tens of thousands of Israelis to return to their homes near the border.
(With inputs from agencies)
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