Iran says expects Hezbollah to hit deeper inside Israel
Asia
By
AFP
| Aug 03, 2024
Iran said on Saturday it expects Lebanon's Tehran-backed Hezbollah group to hit deeper inside Israel and no longer be confined to military targets after Israel killed the Hezbollah military commander.
Hezbollah has been exchanging near-daily fire with Israeli forces, saying it is targeting military positions over the border, since its Palestinian ally Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, sparking war in Gaza.
But a strike claimed by Israel in an overcrowded residential area of South Beirut changed the calculus, Iran's mission to the United Nations said.
READ MORE
Leveraging PPPs to address Kenya's infrastructure crisis
Skyward Express launches Nairobi to Dar es Salaam flight
Scientists root for genome editing to boost food security
TVETs to get Sh49 million funding for tech training
Amsons' bid for Bamburi Cement gets Comesa approval
Co-op Bank third-quarter profit jumps to Sh19b on higher income
I am not about to retire, Equity's James Mwangi says
Report: Construction sector leads in mobile money use
Delayed projects leave Kenya's blue economy limping
Firms seek solutions in renewable energy to curb high cost of power
"We expect... Hezbollah to choose more targets and (strike) deeper in its response," said the mission quoted by the official IRNA news agency.
"Secondly, that it will not limit its response to military targets."
The strike on Tuesday killed Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr. According to Lebanon's health ministry, five civilians -- three women and two children -- also died.
Israel said Shukr was responsible for rocket fire that killed 12 youths in the annexed Golan Heights, and had directed Hezbollah's attacks on Israel since the Gaza war began.
"Hezbollah and the (Israeli) regime had observed certain lines", including limiting strikes to border areas and military targets, Iran's mission said.
The Beirut strike crossed that line, it added.
Hours after Shukr's killing, the political leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in a pre-dawn "hit" on his accommodation in Tehran, Iran's Revolutionary Guards said.
Israel has declined to comment.
On Thursday, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said Israel and "those who are behind it must await our inevitable response" to the killings of both Shukr and Haniyeh.
Iran and Hamas have also vowed to retaliate.
In Iran, the voices clamouring for revenge have intensified since Haniyeh's killing.
On Saturday, the ultraconservative Kayhan daily said retaliatory operations were expected to be "more diverse, more dispersed and impossible to intercept."
"This time, areas such as Tel Aviv and Haifa and the strategic centres and especially residences of some officials involved in the recent crimes are among the targets," Kayhan in an opinion piece.
Late Friday, an Iranian state TV presenter anticipated "astounding and major events" taking place "in the coming hours" in Israel.