BEIRUT:
Hezbollah will strike new Israeli targets if Israel continues to target civilians in Lebanon, the group’s leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Wednesday, saying there had been a sharp increase in the number of non-combatants killed in Lebanon in recent days.
Five civilians, all Syrian and including three children, were killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon on Tuesday and at least three Lebanese civilians were killed the day before, according to state media and security sources.
Israel has said it is hitting Hezbollah fighters and infrastructure in Lebanon and not targeting civilians.
“Continuing to target civilians will prompt the Resistance to fire rockets at previously untargeted settlements,” Nasrallah said, in comments made during a televised address marking the Shiite holy day of Ashura.
Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militant group and the most powerful military and political force in Lebanon, refers to all Israeli population centers as settlements and does not recognize Israel.
Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging fire since Hezbollah announced a “front of support” with the Palestinians shortly after its ally Hamas attacked southern Israeli border communities on October 7, sparking Israel’s military offensive in Gaza.
The fighting in Lebanon has killed more than 100 civilians and more than 300 Hezbollah fighters, according to a Reuters count, and has led to levels of destruction in Lebanese border towns and villages not seen since the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war.
Nasrallah promised that the destroyed houses would be rebuilt.
He was speaking via video link to tens of thousands of Shiite Muslims gathered in southern Beirut to commemorate Ahsura.
The annual mourning period commemorating the 7th-century death of Hussein, a grandson of the prophet Muhammad, is often a time for Hezbollah to demonstrate its popular support and military might.
Black-clad mourners marched and beat their chests in a practice meant to evoke the pain Hussein felt at the time of his assassination.
Many carried images of Hezbollah fighters killed by Israel in more than nine months of fighting.
To maintain security, hundreds of Hezbollah members were deployed at checkpoints, mounted on motorcycles and perched on rooftops, among others with new weapons, including technology that sources familiar with the matter said could affect and shoot down drones.
Read: Hezbollah pledges ceasefire if Gaza truce secured
This year, processions in southern Lebanon were canceled due to clashes with Israel.
Fears have grown in recent weeks among international observers that Israel may expand its military operations in Lebanon, risking a wider war.
Israel has said it is making the necessary preparations for a wider operation, but no decision has yet been made. Hezbollah has said it does not want war with Israel, but is ready for one.
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