Iran announced on Saturday that it expects Lebanon’s Tehran-backed Hezbollah group to target deeper inside Israel and not be confined to military targets, following the killing of Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr by Israel.
Hezbollah has been exchanging near-daily fire with Israeli forces, focusing on military positions over the border. However, a recent strike claimed by Israel in a crowded residential area of South Beirut has altered the dynamics, Iran’s mission to the United Nations said.
“We expect… Hezbollah to choose more targets and (strike) deeper in its response,” stated the mission, quoted by the official IRNA news agency. “Secondly, that it will not limit its response to military targets.”
The strike on Tuesday killed Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr. According to Lebanon’s health ministry, five civilians—three women and two children—also died. Israel claimed Shukr was responsible for rocket fire that killed 12 youths in the annexed Golan Heights and had directed Hezbollah’s attacks on Israel since the Gaza war began.
“Hezbollah and the (Israeli) regime had observed certain lines,” including limiting strikes to border areas and military targets, Iran’s mission noted. The Beirut strike crossed that line, it added.
Hours after Shukr’s killing, Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in a pre-dawn “hit” on his accommodation in Tehran, according to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. Israel has declined to comment on the matter.
On Thursday, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah stated that Israel and “those who are behind it must await our inevitable response” to the killings of both Shukr and Haniyeh. Iran and Hamas have also vowed to retaliate.
In Iran, calls for revenge have intensified since Haniyeh’s death. The ultraconservative Kayhan daily on Saturday stated that retaliatory operations were expected to be “more diverse, more dispersed, and impossible to intercept.” The opinion piece highlighted that areas such as Tel Aviv and Haifa, strategic centers, and residences of officials involved in the recent incidents are among the targets.
Late Friday, an Iranian state TV presenter predicted “astounding and major events” in Israel “in the coming hours.”
