Hezbollah Escalates Clashes with Israel: "We Are Already at the Heart of the War"

Hezbollah No. 2 Sheikh Naim Qassem
[Photo by Reuters Yonhap News]

Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, supported by Iran, warned on the 21st (local time) that Israel will pay a heavy price whenever it launches a ground attack in the Palestinian Gaza Strip.

According to major foreign media, Hezbollah's second-in-command Sheikh Naim Qassem stated at a Hezbollah fighter's funeral that Hezbollah is already "at the heart of the battle" between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Qassem said, "We are trying to weaken the enemy Israel and let them know that we are prepared."

He also questioned, "Do they think that other resistance forces in the region will not act if they try to suppress the Palestinian resistance forces?" Qassem's remarks came amid expectations of an imminent Israeli ground invasion of Gaza and ongoing sporadic clashes between Israel and Hezbollah.

According to foreign media, the Israeli military responded with live fire to two rocket and anti-tank attacks near the northern Lebanon border, stating that several anti-tank missiles were fired from southern Lebanon toward the Hanita Kibbutz area.

Reuters reported that six Hezbollah fighters were killed in the clashes. Since Hamas's surprise attack on Israel on the 7th of this month, Hezbollah casualties have risen to 19. Three Israeli soldiers were also reported injured.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.