Hezbollah Chief Claims ‘Tens of Thousands’ of ‘Trained’ Soldiers Prepared to Combat Israel
The leader of Hezbollah has declared that his organization has tens of thousands of fighters prepared for combat, stating that no area in Israel is off-limits for attacks.
For over a year, hostilities have persisted between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah alongside the Gaza conflict, but the intensity of the fighting has notably increased since late September, with Israeli forces ramping up airstrikes throughout southern Lebanon and conducting ground incursions into border towns.
“We have tens of thousands of trained resistance combatants” ready to engage, Naim Qassem remarked during a speech commemorating 40 days since his predecessor, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed.
This marked Mr. Qassem’s second address since his recent appointment as Hezbollah’s secretary-general last week.
Hezbollah claims to have launched missiles at an Israeli military base located near the airport.
In the aftermath of a lethal Israeli airstrike yesterday, Lebanese rescuers searched through the rubble of a collapsed apartment building south of Beirut for victims or survivors, as the exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah continued.
Hezbollah reported that it targeted an Israeli military installation near Ben Gurion Airport with a barrage of missiles.
Sirens were activated in northern and central Israel, and Israeli media indicated that a rocket had impacted near the airport.
The airport authorities confirmed operations were proceeding normally, with Israel’s flagship airline, El Al, stating that none of its aircraft were affected by the rockets that struck near central Israel.
Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli airstrike in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
The strike in Barja hit a multi-story apartment building perched on a hillside, tearing away sections of the floors and revealing inner walls and stairways.
Lebanon’s health ministry announced just before midnight that the airstrike had resulted in 20 fatalities and 14 injuries, though the casualty count could still increase.
Moussa Zahran, a resident of one of the upper floors, returned to sift through the remnants of his home.
His burned feet were bandaged, and his wife and son were hospitalized following injuries sustained in the attack.
“These rocks you see here weigh 100 kilos; they fell on a 13-kilo child,” he said, referring to his son and the apartment wall that collapsed on him during the bombardment.
The new Israeli defense minister has pledged to ‘defeat’ Hezbollah.
The specific target of the airstrike remains unclear, and there was no evacuation warning issued prior to the aerial attack, with no immediate reports of casualties.
Israel’s military has conducted strikes on the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh, following evacuation orders for designated neighborhoods.
The Barja strike ranks among the deadliest single attacks.
Over 3,000 individuals have died in Israeli attacks on Lebanon over the past year, with the majority occurring in the last six weeks.
The Barja incident stands out as one of the most lethal single strikes.
Diplomatic attempts to broker a proposed 60-day truce from the US faltered last week, prompting fears among the Lebanese populace that the conflict could escalate further following Prime Minister Netanyahu’s appointment of close ally Israel Katz as the new defense minister.
Yesterday, Mr. Katz vowed to “defeat” Hezbollah, allowing displaced residents from northern Israel to return home.
Nabih Berri, the speaker of Lebanon’s parliament and a diplomatic conduit for Hezbollah, engaged with the US and Saudi ambassadors to Lebanon to discuss political developments but provided no further information.
Lebanon has lodged a complaint with the United Nations regarding attacks on communication devices in September, which it attributes to Israel.
Lebanese Labour Minister Mustafa Bayram described the assault as an “egregious war against humanity, technology, and labor,” noting that his country filed the complaint with the International Labour Organization in Geneva.
Ambulances responded following deadly attacks on communication devices in September.
“This sets a perilous precedent,” he remarked to reporters in Switzerland during an event organized by the UN correspondents’ association ACANU.
Israel has not officially claimed responsibility for the attacks; however, Mr. Bayram asserted it is “widely accepted internationally… that Israel was behind this heinous act”.
“In just a few minutes, over 4,000 civilians were impacted, including both the deceased and those injured,” he stated through a translator.
Among the survivors, many people had “lost fingers; some have completely lost their eyesight”.
“We find ourselves in a situation where everyday objects, tools used commonly, are becoming hazardous and lethal,” he explained.
“If allowed to continue unchecked, this crime could become normalized,” he warned, emphasizing that the complaint aims “to prevent such acts from recurring in the future”.
“I believe it is a moral obligation to my nation and to the global community.”
When asked why Lebanon opted to file the complaint with the ILO, Mr. Bayram pointed to the workers who were present when pagers and walkie-talkies they relied on for their jobs suddenly exploded.
“It was necessary to highlight that this contravenes the security and safety of the work environment, as well as the decent work principles defended by the ILO,” he stated.
He added that Lebanese authorities may pursue additional complaints regarding the pager attacks through other international forums, including the World Trade Organization.
“In broader terms, the Lebanese government intends to… present a multitude of complaints” against Israel for its activities in the country, he said, given “the volume of crimes is immense”.
