Nasrallah says Hezbollah is entering a “new phase” against Israel after Haniyeh’s death

Aug. 1 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The leader of the Lebanese Shiite militia party Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, has warned that his group has entered “a new phase” in its confrontation with Israel following the death of the leader of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), Ismail Haniyeh, earlier this week in Iran in an attack attributed to the Israeli army, which has not yet commented on the matter.

Nasrallah also referred to the death of his adviser and top military commander, Fuad Shukr. Israel had claimed earlier this week that it had managed to neutralise him, although it was not until Wednesday that the Lebanese militia confirmed his death. Until then it had limited itself to acknowledging that he had been the victim of an attack in southern Beirut.

Nasrallah acknowledged that perhaps Israel “is happy” for having killed Shukr and Haniye “in a few hours,” but he warned with a strong response. “Laugh now, but you will cry a lot. You don’t know what red line you have crossed,” said the Hezbollah leader, who assures that Israel will face the group’s “wrath and revenge.”

“We have entered a new phase. We will not stop fighting on the support fronts. (Israeli Prime Minister) Benjamin Netanyahu’s goal is for Hamas to tell him: come, here are the hostages and the weapons. That will not happen,” Nasrallah said in a speech reported by ‘L’Orient Le Jour’ in which he insisted on “pressuring” Israel to cease its offensive on Gaza.

“Yesterday and today I asked our brothers in southern Lebanon to remain calm. We will resume tomorrow morning, we have reorganised ourselves to resume the support front. The resistance can only respond (to Israel’s attacks), that is clear. The enemy and those who support it must wait for our response, which will certainly come,” he said.

Israeli authorities claimed on Tuesday to have carried out an attack on southern Beirut in which they had succeeded in destroying the Shukr, although Hezbollah had not yet confirmed the news.

Hours later, in the early morning, an attack in Iran’s capital Tehran claimed Haniyeh’s life. Although Hamas and its partners are targeting Israel directly, the country’s authorities have yet to comment on the matter.