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Hezbollah deputy secretary-general Naim Qassem said on September 22 that the Lebanese group had entered a new phase of its battle with Israel.
Speaking during the funeral for Hezbollah top military commander, Ibrahim Aqil, who was killed in an Israeli strike on the southern suburb of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, last week, Qassem argued that recent Israeli escalation will lead to increased displacement in northern Israel, rather than returning residents to the region.
It’s worth noting that the clashes on the Lebanese-Israeli border which broke out in the backdrop of the war on the Palestinian enclave of the Gaza Strip has so far displaced nearly 100,000 Israelis.
Qassem emphasized that Hezbollah remain undeterred by Israeli threats and ready to face any military challenges ahead.
The leader declared a new phase of the battle with Israel, described as an “open-ended battle of reckoning, where the group will continue to engage in resistance and confrontations in unexpected ways, striking at the enemy when least anticipated.”
More than 70 people were killed in the strike that targeted Aqil on September 20 and in an Israeli sabotage attack that targeted communication devices used by Hezbollah members across Lebanon on September 17 and 18. Israel also stepped up strikes on southern Lebanon, the heartland of the group.
In response to this escalation, Hezbollah stepped up its attacks on Israel early on September 22, launching more than a hundred heavy rockets at an air base and a military industrial complex located some 50 kilometers deep into northern Israel. At least three people were wounded by rocket fire.
So far, the border clashes have resulted in 26 civilian deaths in Israel and the occupied Syrian Golan Heights as well as the deaths of at least 22 soldiers and security officers. On the Lebanese side, more than 900 people have been killed, including 500 fighters of Hezbollah and over 150 civilians.
Qassem’s remarks and recent threats by senior Israeli officials indicate that Hezbollah and Israel may be heading towards an all-out war.
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