Hezbollah’s deputy leader Naim Qassem declared on Monday that the militant group is prepared to confront any potential Israeli ground invasion of Lebanon, marking his first public address since Israel’s assassination of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah last week.
“We will face any possibility and we are ready if the Israelis decide to enter by land,” Qassem stated, asserting that “the resistance forces are ready for a ground engagement.”
This defiant stance comes amid a two-week wave of Israeli attacks on targets in Lebanon, which has eliminated several Hezbollah commanders and raised speculation about a possible ground incursion.
The conflict has intensified beyond Lebanon’s borders. Hamas reported that an Israeli airstrike in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre killed its leader in Lebanon, Fateh Sherif Abu el-Amin, along with his family. Separately, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) announced that three of its leaders died in a strike in central Beirut, marking the first such attack within the capital’s limits.
These incidents underscore Israel’s expanding offensive across multiple fronts, even after the high-profile elimination of Nasrallah. The strikes have heightened fears of a wider regional conflict that could potentially involve Iran and the United States.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani warned that Tehran would not leave Israel’s “criminal acts” unanswered, referring to the killings of Nasrallah and Iranian Revolutionary Guard Brigadier General Abbas Nilforoushan.
The escalating violence has taken a severe toll on Lebanon. The country’s Health Ministry reports over 1,000 Lebanese killed and 6,000 wounded in the past two weeks, though it did not specify civilian casualties. The government estimates that one million people—a fifth of the population—have fled their homes.
“There is nothing else to say or add, except God save Lebanon,” said Nawel, a Beirut resident, expressing the growing anxiety among Lebanese civilians. “What will happen to me is the same as what can happen to anyone.”
