Lebanon’s Islamist Hezbollah militia vowed Monday to quickly choose a successor to slain leader Hassan Nasrallah, saying it would continue its decades-long fight against Israel even as the country faced a massive escalation in military pressure.
Deputy chief Naim Kassem, in the first televised speech by a senior Hezbollah official since Nasrallah’s death, said the group would choose a successor to take over as secretary general “as soon as possible.”
Kassem said the group’s structure allows for replacements to be found for all senior members from the ranks of alternates and other qualified members.
The Lebanese militia, which is considered a terrorist organization by the US, the European Union and Israel, has been launching attacks on northern Israel in support of Hamas since the start of the war in Gaza.
After nearly a year of cross-border skirmishes, Israel last week launched a large-scale air campaign on targets across Lebanon, aiming to push back Hezbollah to allow the return of tens of thousands of residents evacuated from Israel’s north.
“We know the fight can be long, and we are ready for any eventuality. If Israel decides to launch a ground invasion, we are ready for a ground battle,” Kassem said.
“Israel will not be able to compromise our military capabilities,” he said, pledging to also continue its support for the Palestinians in Gaza.
Kassem’s appearance on television, dressed in black as he sat in a locked room, refutes rumors that he was killed in the same attack that killed Nasrallah.
The escalation between Israel and Hezbollah has heightened fears that the region is on the brink of all-out war.
According to Lebanese authorities, hundreds have been killed and tens of thousands have been displaced during the fighting in Lebanon.
The international community is pushing for de-escalation amid continued Israeli attacks and Hezbollah reprisals, but attempts at a ceasefire have so far been rebuffed by both sides.
On Sunday, Israel attacked a port city in Yemen in a major operation targeting the Iran-allied Houthi militia.
Hamas leader in Lebanon, PFLP members killed
One of the most high-profile figures killed in Israel’s recent wave of airstrikes was the leader in Lebanon of the Palestinian extremist group Hamas, the group said on Monday.
Fatah Sharif Abu al-Amine was killed along with family members in his home near the coastal city of Tire in southern Lebanon, the statement said.
“Overnight, the Israeli Air Force attacked and eliminated terrorist Fateh Sharif, head of the Lebanon branch of the terrorist organization Hamas,” the Israeli military said.
Meanwhile, another militant group, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), said several of its members had been killed in an airstrike on Beirut.
If confirmed, this would be the first time Israel has killed members of the group since the start of the Gaza war and cross-border skirmishes with Hezbollah that broke out at the same time almost a year ago.
The PFLP said three of its leaders were killed in the attack on Beirut’s central Kola district.
The Israeli military made no comment.
Shooting continues across the Israel-Lebanon border
Hezbollah has continued its rocket attacks from Lebanon into northern Israel, the Israeli military said on Monday, with an Israeli gas platform in the Mediterranean a clear target of a drone strike.
About 35 rockets were fired from Lebanon into the Galilee and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, the Israeli military said, and a rocket alert sounded in the city of Safed.
The military also said an Israeli missile boat had intercepted a drone flying over Israeli waters in the Mediterranean Sea. Army radio reported that the drone appeared to be targeting Israel’s Karish gas platform.