The leader of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah movement Hassan Nasrallah vowed on Tuesday to take “effective” retaliation against Israel.
“Our response is coming and will be strong and effective,” Nasrallah told thousands of his followers via video.
The comments were made a week after the assassination of Hezbollah’s top military commander, Fuad Shukr, in Beirut.
Nasrallah said his movement could not let the killing go unpunished, regardless of the consequences. He also referred to the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in the Iranian capital Tehran last week.
He added that Hezbollah will “respond, but cautiously and courageously, and that Israeli waiting is part of the response.”
He said a retaliatory attack could be launched in conjunction with other groups in the so-called “Axis of Resistance,” including those in Iraq and Yemen. Iranian leaders have also vowed revenge.
“The aim of the battle is to prevent Israel from winning,” Nasrallah said.
Hezbollah has said it stands in solidarity with Hamas in the Gaza Strip and that if fighting there stops, the movement will lay down its weapons in southern Lebanon.
Shortly before Nasrallah began to speak, the sonic booms of Israeli fighter jets were heard over Beirut and its suburbs, causing panic and fear.
Hezbollah’s leader accused Israel of inflaming tensions after it attacked the commander in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a hotbed of the group, and killed Hanniyeh in Tehran.
Hezbollah’s leader acknowledged that Shukr’s killing was a great loss for the group.
