BEIRUT: Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah warned Israel Wednesday against waging war on Lebanon, a day after a strike blamed on Israel killed Hamas’s number two in the group’s southern Beirut suburbs stronghold.
“If the enemy thinks of waging a war on Lebanon, we will fight without restraint, without rules, without limits and without restrictions,” Nasrallah said in a televised speech.
“We are not afraid of war,” he said, adding that “for now, we are fighting on the frontline following meticulous calculations.”
Lebanese authorities and Hamas accused Israel of killing Salah Al-Aruri in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Tuesday with six others.
Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari did not directly comment on Aruri’s killing but said the military was “highly prepared for any scenario” in its aftermath.
Israeli strikes on Lebanon had largely been limited to the border area before Al-Aruri’s killing, with Hezbollah and its arch-foe exchanging near-daily fire after the Israel-Hamas war broke out on October 7.
The attack sparked fears of a broader conflagration because Aruri is the most high-profile figure to be killed since fighting in Gaza began in October, and his death came in the first strike on the Lebanese capital since hostilities started.
Nasrallah described the attack as a “major and dangerous crime” which “will not go unanswered and unpunished” — repeating a threat made by Hezbollah on Tuesday.
The group announced several strikes on Israeli troops and positions Wednesday, within the usual scope of the border area.
“Israel has been weakened” by Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, Nasrallah said, adding that the country was “now on the path to extinction.”
Nasrallah spoke in a pre-planned speech commemorating Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp. general Qasem Soleimani four years after his death in a US strike in Iraq.
He is set to deliver another televised speech on Friday.
Earlier Wednesday, a high-level Lebanese security official told AFP that Israel fired guided missiles from a warplane to kill Al-Aruri in a Beirut suburb.
Hamas said Al-Aruri would be buried on Thursday in Beirut’s Shatila Palestinian refugee camp.
Since hostilities began, 170 people have been killed on the Lebanese side, most of them Hezbollah members but also more than 20 civilians including three journalists, according to an AFP tally.
On the Israeli side, at least four civilians and nine soldiers have been killed, according to figures from the military.
Hezbollah leader warns Israel against waging war on Lebanon
https://arab.news/zxdug
Hezbollah leader warns Israel against waging war on Lebanon
- “If the enemy thinks of waging a war on Lebanon, we will fight without restraint, without rules, without limits and without restrictions,” Nasrallah said
- Nasrallah spoke in a pre-planned speech commemorating Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp. general Qasem Soleimani 4 years after his death
Spain highlights importance of Gaza reconstruction
- Spain officially recognized Palestine as a state in May 2024, in a coordinated move alongside Ireland and Norway
RAMALLAH: The Palestinian prime minister, Mohammed Mustafa, and the Spanish foreign minister, Jose Manuel Albares, on Friday discussed the latest developments in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
During their telephone conversation they emphasized the need to intensify international efforts to end the Israeli occupation and halt attacks and settler violence, and to secure the release of Palestinian funds held by Israeli authorities.
They affirmed the importance of ongoing efforts relating to plans for the reconstruction of Gaza, and Europe’s significant role in this process. Mustafa and Albares highlighted the need to unify Palestinian institutions in Gaza with those in the West Bank, with the aim of establishing a Palestinian state in line with international resolutions, including last year’s New York Declaration.
They also discussed coordination between their countries, and the strengthening of Spain’s political, diplomatic and financial support for Palestine, and Mustafa thanked Spain for its ongoing support.
Spain officially recognized Palestine as a state in May 2024, in a coordinated move alongside Ireland and Norway. Estephan Salameh, the Palestinian finance and planning minister, is set to visit Spain this month to discuss enhanced cooperation, particularly in the areas of development and reconstruction. Meanwhile, Israel continues operating in the occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian Prisoners media office said on Friday that Israel carried out numerous raids across the territory, including the major cities of Ramallah and Hebron, according to The Associated Press.
Nearly 50 people were detained, following the arrest of at least 50 other Palestinians on Thursday, most of those in the Ramallah area.
As 2026 begins, the shaky 12-week-old ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has largely ended large-scale Israeli bombardment of Gaza.
But Palestinians are still being killed by Israeli fire, especially along the so-called Yellow Line that delineates areas under Israeli control, and the humanitarian crisis is compounded by frequent winter rains and colder temperatures.
On Friday, American actor and film producer Angelina Jolie visited the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip.
The only crossing between the territory and a country other than Israel, it remains closed despite Palestinian requests to reopen it to people and aid.
Jolie met with members of the Red Crescent on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing and then visited a hospital in the nearby city of Arish to speak with Palestinian patients on Friday, according to Egyptian officials.
Aid groups say not enough shelter materials are getting into Gaza during the truce.
