During the funeral of Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr, Hezbollah’s Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah delivered a fiery speech, warning Israel of severe repercussions for the assassination. Nasrallah stated that Israel’s actions had crossed a critical threshold, vowing that Hezbollah’s response would be swift and inevitable.
Shukr, a high-ranking military figure and Nasrallah’s close aide, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on the outskirts of Beirut. In his eulogy, Nasrallah emphasized that the assassination crossed red lines and promised an inevitable response. He asserted that the killings of Shukr and Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran were acts of war that demanded retribution.
“You do not know what red lines you crossed,” Nasrallah said, addressing Israel directly. “The enemy, and those who are behind the enemy, must await our inevitable response.”
Nasrallah denied Hezbollah’s involvement in a recent rocket strike on the Druze village of Majdal Shams, which killed 12 children. He insisted that Hezbollah would have admitted responsibility if it had made such a mistake. U.S. and Israeli intelligence, however, have indicated that the rocket was fired from Lebanon by Hezbollah.
The assassination of Shukr has drawn Hezbollah into what Nasrallah described as an “open battle on all fronts.” He stated that Hezbollah and other Iran-backed groups are beyond merely supporting Gaza, declaring an “open battle” and vowing to continue fighting without yielding to pressure.
Israel has yet to comment on Haniyeh’s assassination but confirmed Shukr’s death, describing him as Hezbollah’s “most senior military commander.” Nasrallah noted that the strike against Haniyeh in Tehran not only violated Iranian sovereignty but also impacted its national security, suggesting that the consequences of these actions would be severe and far-reaching.
The conflict has drawn global calls for calm, but Nasrallah’s speech made it clear that Hezbollah is preparing for further escalations. “We have entered a new phase, and pressure on all fronts to force the resistance to surrender will not succeed,” he said. Nasrallah reiterated that the group’s response to the recent attacks was “a foregone conclusion” and that Israel should brace for significant retaliation.
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