Hezbollah’s leader promises revenge for the killing of a Hamas leader in Beirut

Just 24 hours before taking the stage Wednesday, Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Lebanon’s powerful armed group Hezbollah, prepared to deliver a speech commemorating another of Israel’s former archenemy, Qassem Soleimani, the Iranian commander killed in a US drone strike. four years ago to this day.

But in the wake of Tuesday’s suspected Israeli killing of Saleh al-Arouri, a top Hamas leader who was killed in the heart of Hezbollah’s stronghold in southern Beirut, Mr. Nasrallah revised his comments to include not just one of his closest allies, but two of his closest allies. .

In a much-anticipated speech on Wednesday, which took on new significance in the wake of Mr al-Arouri’s killing, Hezbollah’s leader denounced the attack in the Lebanese capital as a “dangerous” milestone, promising revenge for the killing and threatened to confront a broader Israeli conflict. with unrestrained warfare.

“If the enemy considers waging war against Lebanon, our fight will be without borders or rules,” Mr Nasrallah said. “We are not afraid of war. Those who think of going to war with us will regret it. A war with us will have very, very, very high costs.”

“Yesterday’s crime will not go unpunished,” he warned ominously in his closing remarks.

But Mr. Nasrallah refrained from saying exactly how his group would respond to the killing, adding that he would instead discuss Mr. al-Arouri’s killing in more depth in another speech on Friday. Despite a series of cross-border attacks on Israel by Hezbollah in the wake of Mr al-Arouri’s killing, none have yet signaled a clear escalation.

Israel has not publicly accepted or denied responsibility for the killing, but US and Lebanese officials have said Israel carried out the killing.

Hezbollah’s apparent hesitation to respond too quickly to the killing fit with analysts’ assessment that the killing on Lebanese territory had significantly complicated Hezbollah’s calculations regarding the escalating battle with Israel.

“It is a very uncomfortable moment for Hezbollah,” said Emile Hokayem, director of regional security at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. “It’s not something you can easily sweep under the rug.”

Mr. Nasrallah has long warned that any killing on Lebanese soil would require a strong response. But now that the war in Gaza has brought regional tensions to a boiling point, any significant escalation would likely spell disaster.

“He really has his back against the wall,” Mr. Hoyakem said.

Mr. Nasrallah devoted much of his speech on Wednesday to reaffirming Hezbollah’s steadfastness in the war that began with the Hamas-led attack from Gaza on Israel on October 7.

“The resistance in Lebanon is more daring and prepared than ever,” Mr. Nasrallah said, as the crowd at his televised address regularly broke out into loud applause.

In previous speeches during the war, Mr. Nasrallah described Hezbollah’s goal as supporting Hamas by engaging in a controlled battle aimed at distracting and undermining the Israeli army. However, the fighting and associated rhetoric on both sides have only intensified, heightening fears of an all-out regional war even as U.S. officials work to broker peace.

Referring to Lebanon’s numerous crises even before the outbreak of the conflict, Mr. Nasrallah then doubled down. If Israel chooses to go to war against Lebanon, he threatened, the nation’s interest will be “to continue the war unchecked to the end.”