Hezbollah 'ready for ground incursion' as Israeli airstrikes continue

Israel carried out its first airstrike in the heart of Lebanon's capital Beirut since the outbreak of the war in Gaza last year, killing four people.

Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem said in a live video on Hezbollah's Al-Manar channel this morning that Israeli forces are killing and committing massacres against civilians.

It was the first address by a senior group leader since longtime chief Hassan Nasrallah's death on Friday, who was killed with four other people.

Qassem said the group would choose a successor "at the earliest opportunity."

Hezbollah and Iran warn Israel

The deputy leader warned, "We are quite ready if the Israelis want ground incursion, the resistance forces are ready for that. The Israeli enemy will not achieve its goals.

"The U.S. is a partner with Israel, through unlimited military support – culturally, politically, financially," said Qassem.

He also vowed that Hezbollah will continue with its main goals despite the aggressive attacks against civilians in Lebanon, and Israel's aim of creating chaos.

"We will win, just as we won in our confrontation with Israel in 2006," said Hezbollah's deputy chief as he ended the video message.

Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson says no "criminal acts" of Israel will be left unanswered, adding that "anyone who stands against Iran's national security will undoubtedly receive a response from Iran."

"We do not make empty promises, we have shown in practice that we stand firmly against aggressors who intend to violate Iran's national security, and our response will be regretful for them," Nasser Kanaani said during a news briefing.

Hamas leader killed

At least 41,615 Palestinians have been killed and 96,359 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October last year, the Palestinian Health Ministry announced.

The Israeli army said its forces "eliminated" Hamas's leader Fatah Sherif in Lebanon in the latest strike targeting senior members of armed groups in the neighboring country.

Fatah Sharif Abu al-Amine "was responsible for coordinating Hamas's terror activities in Lebanon with Hezbollah operatives. He was also responsible for Hamas's efforts in Lebanon to recruit operatives and acquire weapons," the military's statement said.

European foreign ministers will hold emergency talks on the situation in Lebanon, Brussels said, as Israel presses on with air strikes after killing Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

A spokesman said the bloc's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell had convened a video meeting at 1500 GMT "to discuss the EU's response to the latest escalation in Lebanon."

International powers are scrambling to prevent the conflict between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah group from spiraling into a broader conflict.

Mass displacement

Some 100,000 people have fled to Syria from Lebanon due to Israeli air strikes, a figure that has doubled in two days, the United Nations' refugee head said. 

"The number of people who have crossed into Syria from Lebanon fleeing Israeli airstrikes - Lebanese and Syrian nationals - has reached 100,000," Filippo Grandi said on X. "The outflow continues."

He said his UN refugee agency (UNHCR) was "present at four crossing points, alongside local authorities and (the Syrian Red Crescent) to support new arrivals."

Israel hit a Beirut apartment block, killing three members of a Palestinian group in its first strike on the city center since the outbreak of the Gaza war last year. 

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a secular left-wing group, said three of its members were killed in the strike on Beirut's Kola district.

The group said in a statement that its military security chief Mohammad Abdel-Aal, military commander Imad Odeh, and Abdelrahman Abdel-Aal were killed.

Israel has turned its focus from Gaza to Lebanon in recent days.

Another drone attack targeted a "flat belonging to Jamaa Islamiya," a Lebanese group, the security source said.

The Israeli military said it had launched fresh strikes on dozens of Hezbollah targets in Lebanon's Bekaa region.

Israel "will continue to attack powerfully, damage and degrade Hezbollah's military capabilities and infrastructure in Lebanon," the army said in a statement on Telegram.

At least 105 people were killed in Israeli strikes on Sunday, with 359 people wounded, according to Lebanon's health ministry.

'Great concern'

Saudi Arabia expressed its "great concern" at the conflict in Lebanon, calling for the country's "sovereignty and territorial integrity" to be respected.

"The Kingdom calls on the international community to assume its responsibilities towards protecting regional peace and security to spare the region and its people the dangers and tragedies of wars," a foreign ministry statement said.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden said he would be talking to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but did not say when.

"I'll tell you what I say to him when I talk to him," he told reporters. Asked whether all-out war in the Middle East could be avoided, he replied: "It has to be. We really have to avoid it."

Pope Francis, asked about Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah as well as non-combatants, criticized military attacks that he said go "beyond morality."

On the flight back to Rome from Belgium, the pontiff said countries cannot go "over the top" in using their military forces. 

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