BEIRUT (Reuters) – Senior Hezbollah official and member of parliament Hassan Fadlallah said on Thursday that Israel would face reprisal after two sets of strikes on southern Lebanon the previous day killed 10 civilians, half of them children.
“The enemy (Israel) will pay the price for these crimes,” Fadlallah told Reuters when asked about the powerful Iran-backed armed group’s reaction to the deadliest day for civilians in Lebanon since hostilities began along its southern border.
Hezbollah has been trading fire for more than four months with the Israeli military in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas, which carried out a deadly attack on Israel on Oct. 7 that was met with an Israeli land, air and sea assault on Gaza.
Hezbollah says its rockets are also deterring Israel from a broader offensive on Lebanon.
The Israeli strikes on Wednesday came after shelling onto a military base in northern Israel killed one soldier. Hezbollah did not claim responsibility for that attack.
Fadlallah said Hezbollah had a “legitimate right to defend its people and will not flinch in doing what is needed to protect it” and insisted that Israel halt its war on Gaza.
Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati also instructed foreign minister Abdallah Bou Habib to register a new complaint at the United Nations Security Council over the strikes that caused Wednesday’s casualties.
(Reporting by Laila Bassam; writing by Maya Gebeily; editing by Andrew Cawthorne, William Maclean)
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