Hezbollah says it will cause Israel pain

Hezbollah’s deputy chief Naim Qassem said on Tuesday the group would inflict “pain” on Israel but he also called for a ceasefire as a conflict rages between them in south Lebanon.

Israel has been turning up the heat on Hezbollah since it began incursions into the region after killing Hezbollah leaders and commanders, including its veteran secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah last month in the biggest blow to the group in decades.

“The solution is a ceasefire, we are not speaking from a position of weakness, if the Israelis do not want that, we will continue,” Qassem said in a recorded speech.

“But after the ceasefire, according to an indirect agreement, the settlers would return to the north and other steps will be drawn up.”

There was no immediate comment from Israel, which says its operation in Lebanon aims to secure the return of tens of thousands of residents forced to flee their homes in northern Israel because of Hezbollah attacks.

Qassem said Hezbollah reserved the right to attack anywhere in Israel because its enemy has done the same in Lebanon. He said more Israelis will be displaced and “hundreds of thousands, even more than two million, will be in danger at any time, at any hour, on any day”.

“We will focus on targeting the Israeli military and its centers and barracks,” he said.
On Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would continue to attack Hezbollah “without mercy, everywhere in Lebanon – including Beirut”.

Israel has issued military evacuation orders affecting more than a quarter of Lebanon, the U.N. refugee agency said on Tuesday, two weeks after the Israeli military began incursions into south Lebanon to battle Hezbollah.

The figures underscore the heavy price Lebanese are paying as Israel tries to destroy the Iran-backed militant group’s infrastructure in their conflict, which resumed a year ago when it began firing rockets at Israel in support of Hamas at the start of the Gaza war.

In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Israel must take steps in the next month to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza to avoid legal action involving U.S. military aid, according to news reports and sources.

The U.S. told the U.N. Security Council last week that Israel needs to address urgently “catastrophic conditions” among civilians in Gaza and stop limiting aid deliveries.