Israel-Lebanon latest: Hezbollah ready for Israeli ground invasion vows deputy leader

Lebanon’s Hezbollah will choose a successor to its slain secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah “at the earliest opportunity” and will continue the fight against Israel, the Iran-backed group’s deputy chief Naim Qassem said on Monday.

He said the group was continuing its operations, working according to plans already laid out, and described its attacks thus far as the “minimum”, adding that the battle could be long.

We have some quotes from Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem’s first speech since his superior Hassan Nasrallah was killed over the weekend.

“We are confident the Israeli enemy will not achieve its aims,” Qassem said. “We will confront any possibility and are ready if Israel decides to enter by land.”

More than 100,000 people have crossed into Syria from Lebanon since a conflict between Israeli forces and the Hezbollah militia escalated this month, the United Nations refugee agency chief said on Monday.

Filippo Grandi said on social media platform X that those fleeing included both Lebanese and Syrian nationals. The UN agency is assisting those arriving at four crossing points, he added.

Hezbollah’s deputy chief Naim Qassem is giving his first public address since the group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in a series of Israeli strikes over the weekend.

He has vowed that Hezbollah will defeat Israel and that they are ready to go to war.

Sounds of explosions were heard on the outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus on Monday, witnesses told Reuters.

Iran will not leave any of ‘the criminal acts’ of Israel unanswered, Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said in a weekly news conference on Monday, referring to the killing of Hezbollah’s chief and Iranian Guard deputy commander in Lebanon.

The Israeli military has posted footage of its planes refuelling while on route to attacks on the Houthi militia in Yemen.

Earlier, we reported that dozens of its aircraft struck Houthi targets in Yemen in response to a recent attack on Israel.

The military said it targeted power plants and sea port facilities in the city of Hodeida.

The Houthis launched a ballistic missile attack on Ben Gurion airport on Saturday when prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was arriving.

Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa programme at Chatham House, said that Israel has been closely monitoring Hezbollah and its leader Hassan Nasrallah since the 2006 war, enabling them to eliminate many key figures within the group.

Vakil described this as a critical junction for Hezbollah. “This is why this is such an existential moment for the group.”

Sources told Middle East Eye that while Hezbollah typically replaces its commanders quickly, Nasrallah’s cousin, Hachem Safieddine, has been groomed for leadership.

“Over the years, Nasrallah put Safieddine on the path to prepare him to take the helm. But this remains to be seen as Safieddine’s name was circulating among those who were killed in Friday’s strike,” the source was quoted as saying.

The deputy chief of Lebanon’s armed group Hezbollah is due to give an address imminently, the group’s media office have said.

It is the first address by a Hezbollah official since the killing of the group’s secretary general in an Israeli air attack on Friday.

The media office originally reported the speech would take place at 12 pm local time, 9am GMT.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said that Israel’s airstrikes in Lebanon have “nearly decimated” Hezbollah’s command structure, though he cautioned that the group will likely rebuild it swiftly.

He told ABC: “There’s no question that the Hezbollah of today is not the Hezbollah that was even just a week ago.”

But he warned that “somebody will be anointed” to take Hassan Nasrallah’s place.

Israel confirmed that the Hezbollah leader was killed in a strike on Beirut on Friday.

“We’re watching this very, very closely to see how, if and how, Hezbollah and / or Iran may react as well as the militia groups in Iraq and Syria. We have to be prepared for some sort of response. We have to make sure that we are ready, and we are. We believe we have the force capability we need in the region, but it’s not clear right now, it’s too soon to know how Iran’s going to react to this,” Mr Kirby said.