Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group, said on Monday that any assassination committed against a Lebanese, Palestinian, Syrian, or Iranian on Lebanese soil will not go unanswered.
Nasrallah’s remarks came after an exchange of threats between Israelis and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) over the past few days.
“We will not allow Lebanon to be opened for assassinations, and Israelis must know that changing the rules of engagement is not allowed,” Nasrallah said in Bekaa, a Lebanese region that borders Syria.
Last week, right-wing Israeli ministers and lawmakers reportedly called on the government to return to the so-called “targeted killings” of Palestinian militants amid a wave of Palestinian attacks against Israelis.
In response, Hamas’ deputy political chief Salah al-Arouri threatened a “multi-front war” if Israel tried to assassinate more Palestinian leaders.
On Sunday, Netanyahu made an explicit threat against al-Arouri, who is seen as a figure responsible for the Hamas’ military forces in the West Bank, saying whoever tries to harm Israelis will “pay a heavy price.”
Nasrallah added that “these threats do not make the resistance back down… Neither the threat nor its execution will weaken the resistance.”
