Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah vowed on Tuesday to continue attacks against Israel, as rocket fire killed two people on July 9.
Hezbollah also published drone footage of northern Israel showing various Israeli sites such as military bases that it has said it will target.
Nasrallah pledged support for the “oppressed Palestinians in the Gaza Strip until the goals of people and their fighters are accomplished,” Iran’s IRNA state news reported. The speech was also published on the Al-Ahed website in Lebanon.
Nasrallah was speaking to commemorate the Islamic month of Muharram. He “emphasized that the Lebanese resistance, which started its activities in support of Palestine on October 8 following the Aqsa Storm operation and the launch of Israeli genocidal war will continue until goals are achieved on all fronts,” IRNA noted. “We are looking forward to it and there will be no turning back”, Nasrallah said.
Hezbollah is part of the larger Iranian axis of groups that Tehran mobilized to attack Israel after the Hamas attack on October 7. It has launched around 6,000 rockets, missiles and drones at Israel in nine months of war. Hezbollah has said it will continue the attacks so long as the war in Gaza continues.Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant recently visited Mount Hermon in the Golan and said “these are critical days in terms of exercising our power against an enemy [Hezbollah] that only responds to force. Even if we reach an agreement in the southern arena, we will continue fighting here, until we bring Hezbollah to an agreement and can ensure the safe return of Israel’s northern communities to their homes.”
Holy intentions
Nasrallah said on Tuesday that “we are the children, followers and students of Karbala, and we consider death nothing but happiness and life with oppressors, invaders and murderers nothing but misery.”Karbala is a reference the location of the Battle of Karbala in 680 AD where Hussian, a grandson of the Prophet, was killed in battle. It is a holy city for Shi’ites and has a shrine to Hussain.Nasrallah is channeling this Shi’ite military history into his speech to explain Hezbollah’s willingness to take more losses fighting Israel. It has already lost around 500 fighters, including half its brigade and division commanders.Key commanders of the Aziz and Nasr sectors south of the Litani river have been eliminated. However, Hezbollah is indicating that its capabilities remain mostly intact.