Hezbollah, Israel trade blows as tensions rise

Nasrallah vows strong response to killing of military chief

BEIRUT:

The leader of Hezbollah on Tuesday pledged a “strong and effective” response to the killing of its military commander by Israel last week and said it would act either alone or with its regional allies.

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said Hezbollah would wait for the right moment to respond but did not hint on its form or timing.

All international attempts at persuading Hezbollah not to retaliate were futile, he said. “Whatever the consequences, the resistance will not let these Israeli attacks pass by,” he said in a televised address to mark one week since the assassination of Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut.

“Our response, God willing, will be strong, effective and impactful.”

Members and supporters of Hezbollah gathered to watch the speech in a southern suburb of Beirut. Just before his speech began, Israeli warplanes swooped low over the Lebanese capital, setting off a series of sonic booms that rattled windows across the city and sent people ducking for cover.

Hezbollah earlier on Tuesday said it launched a swarm of attack drones at two military sites near Acre in northern Israel and attacked an Israeli military vehicle in another location. The Israeli military said a number of hostile drones were identified crossing from Lebanon and one was intercepted.

Israeli medical officials said seven people were evacuated to hospital, to the south of the coastal city of Nahariya, one in critical condition.

Reuters journalists saw one impact site near a bus stop on a main road outside Nahariya. The Israeli military said in a statement sirens sounded around Acre, but that turned out to be a false alarm.

It said its air force struck two Hezbollah facilities in south Lebanon.