Hezbollah’s military capability still intact

The deputy leader of Hezbollah said yesterday the Iran-backed group had moved beyond “painful blows” inflicted by Israel as Israeli forces began ground operations in the southwest of Lebanon, expanding its incursions into a new zone.
Naim Qassem said the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel was a war about who cries first, and that Hezbollah would not cry first. He said its capabilities are still intact after a year of fighting.
“We support the political efforts that (Lebanese parliament speaker) Nabih Berri is undertaking towards a ceasefire,” he said.
Israel’s defence minister, meanwhile, said it appeared the replacement for slain Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah had been “eliminated”, in what would be another big blow for the Iran-backed group in Lebanon.
Defence Minister Yoav Gallant made the announcement about Hashem Safieddine, who has not been heard from publicly since an Israeli airstrike late last week.
Iran yesterday warned Israel against any attacks on the Islamic Republic, a week after Tehran fired a barrage of missiles on it, putting the Middle East on edge.
Any attack on Iran’s infrastructure will be met with retaliation, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said, warning Israel against attacks on his country.
Araqchi will visit Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Middle East to discuss regional issues and work on stopping Israel’s “crimes” in Gaza and Lebanon, Iran’s ISNA news agency reported.
In Lebanon, the Israeli military piled more pressure on Hezbollah, saying it was conducting “limited, localized, targeted operations” in Lebanon’s southwest after announcing such operations for the southeast border area.
Israel’s military also struck Beirut’s southern suburbs overnight and said it killed a senior Hezbollah responsible for the group’s budgeting and logistics. Hezbollah said it had fired a salvo of rockets at Israeli troops in two areas of northern Israel.
The situation in Lebanon is getting worse by the day, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, told the European Parliament yesterday, calling for a ceasefire. Some 20 percent of the Lebanese population had been forced to move, he said.
Israel’s intensified bombing campaign has left many Lebanese worried their country will experience the vast scale of destruction wrought on Gaza by Israel.
On Monday, Israeli forces issued a warning in Arabic to beachgoers and boat users to avoid a stretch of the Lebanese coast, saying it would soon begin operations against Hezbollah from the sea.