BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanese Hezbollah could be “exposed” to further Israeli operations if the armed militia did not respond to the killing of one of the leaders of allied Hamas earlier this week, Hassan Nasrallah said on the occasion of ‘a televised speech delivered on Friday.
A senior Hamas official, Saleh al-Arouri, was assassinated Tuesday evening in a town considered to be a Hezbollah stronghold, on the outskirts of Beirut, although the Lebanese capital had until then been spared from the conflict that broke out in early October.
Hezbollah “cannot remain silent in the face of this level of violation,” Hassan Nasrallah said during a televised speech Friday, his second public outing in less than a week after two months of silence.
“This means that all of Lebanon will be exposed, all cities, villages and people will be exposed,” the Hezbollah leader said.
The Lebanese group has carried out around 670 military operations on the border between Lebanon and Israel since October 8, added Hassan Nasrallah.
Hezbollah destroyed a “significant number of Israeli vehicles and tanks,” he also declared.
He also said that if the Jewish state achieved its goals in Gaza, Lebanon would be Israel’s next objective.
(Maya Gebeily and Riham Alkoussa; French version by Zhifan Liu)
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