On Friday, the head of Lebanese group Hezbollah stated that they have the right to respond to Israel’s recent killing of their senior military commander, raising the risk of a new battle.
Naim Qassem spoke in a televised message as fears mounted in Lebanon that Israel will escalate its shelling of the country in order to force Hezbollah to surrender its arsenal across the country, a demand the group has consistently resisted.
Israel’s execution of Hezbollah’s top military commander, Haytham Ali Tabtabai, in a strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs on November 23 exacerbated such concerns. Qassem stated that the group would “set the timing” for any reprisal, and that threats of a larger air campaign had little bearing on the organisation – but that renewed fighting was likely. Reuters