Hezbollah leader says war with Israel has entered ‘new phase’

Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group vowed on Thursday to deliver a substantial response to the killing of its top military commander by Israel.

Speaking at the funeral of Fuad Shukr, who died in an airstrike in Beirut on Tuesday, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah declared that the conflict with Israel had “entered a new phase.”

Lebanese health authorities reported that at least seven people, including two children, died in the Israeli strike.

“We are planning a real and well-calculated response, not merely a symbolic one,” Nasrallah said, emphasizing that Israel had “crossed red lines” in both Beirut and Tehran.

Hamas’ political leader was also killed in Tehran on Wednesday in an attack attributed to Israel by both Iran and the Palestinian militant group.

Nasrallah indicated that Hezbollah’s response would surpass the usual border skirmishes with Israeli forces, which have been ongoing since the start of Israel’s conflict with Hamas.

“We are facing a big battle now; it is beyond a support front. There is a battle in Gaza, a battle in south Lebanon, an open battle in Yemen, and even in Iraq because this is all happening at the same time,” he stated.

“They’ve picked a fight with all of us,” Nasrallah said, referring to the network of Iran-backed armed groups across Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen.

In Tehran, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei led prayers for Haniyeh, the Hamas leader, who had attended the inauguration of Iran’s new president before his death. Khamenei earlier threatened “harsh punishment” against Israel.

Haniyeh’s remains are to be transferred to Qatar for burial on Friday.

Israel has not confirmed or denied responsibility for Haniyeh’s killing but acknowledged carrying out the airstrike in Beirut that killed Shukr. Israel claimed Shukr was responsible for a recent rocket attack that hit a soccer field in the Israeli-held Golan Heights, killing 12 children. Hezbollah denied involvement in that strike.

The consecutive killings have heightened fears of a broader conflict, leaving the region bracing for Iran and Hezbollah’s response.

International diplomats are working urgently to prevent a cycle of retaliation from escalating into a larger war.

Since the Gaza conflict began in October last year, Hezbollah and Israel have exchanged fire almost daily across the border, causing deaths and mass evacuations but staying within certain limits. Periodic escalations have raised fears of a wider war, but diplomacy has managed to keep the situation from spiraling out of control.

Hezbollah is under significant pressure from Lebanon to avoid a repeat of the 2006 war with Israel, which caused extensive death and destruction in Lebanon.

Earlier this year, Israel and Iran nearly plunged into war when Israel struck Iran’s embassy in Damascus in April. Iran retaliated, and Israel responded in an unprecedented exchange of strikes on each other’s territories, but international efforts succeeded in containing that conflict.

The current situation remains tense as the world watches for Hezbollah’s next move and hopes for continued diplomatic intervention to prevent further escalation.