The head of the powerful Lebanese armed movement Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, warned on Tuesday against any Israeli attempt to extend its attacks on Palestinian militants into Lebanon.
“Any attack against any human being will not go unpunished, nor will it go unanswered,” Nasrallah said in a televised address on the occasion of Ashura, a melancholic commemoration for Shiite Muslims of the assassination of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, Hussein.
The comments followed an upsurge in violence between Israel and the Islamic Jihad movement in the Gaza Strip, sparked by Israel’s arrest of a senior Islamic Jihad leader earlier this month.
On Saturday, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz hinted at the possibility of targeting Islamic Jihad officials abroad, who he said could be seen in “restaurants and hotels in Tehran, Syria and Lebanon.”
“They too will have to pay the price,” Gantz said.
On Monday, a day after an Egyptian-brokered truce ended violence in Gaza, he said Israel might carry out “preemptive strikes” abroad.
“Also in the future, if necessary, we will carry out a preemptive strike to defend Israel’s citizens, sovereignty and infrastructure and this is valid for all fronts, from Tehran to Khan Yunis,” he said.
Iran-backed Hezbollah vehemently opposes Israel and tensions between the two have escalated in recent months over the disputed maritime border between Lebanon and Israel.