Hezbollah pledges more powerful strikes on Israel after senior commander killed

A senior Hezbollah official says the resistance movement will definitley increase the "quantity and quality" of its anti-Israel operations in the wake of an Israeli attack that killed a senior commander in southern Lebanon.

Sheikh Hashem Safieddine, the head of Hezbollah's Executive Council, made the remarks at the funeral of Commander Taleb Sami Abdullah in southern Beirut, who was killed in the Israeli strike on Tuesday.

"Our definite and inevitable response after shedding this pure blood is that we will increase the intensity, strength, and diversity of our operations. The enemy will see who are the brothers and sons of Abu Talib (the slain commander)."

The Hezbollah official said the regime won't be able to weaken the resistance by assassinating its leaders, and that it should be ready to receive more painful blows.

"The enemy is still foolish and has not learned from all the previous experiences. It mistakenly believes that assassinating leaders weakens the resistance. However, experience has proven that whenever leaders are martyred, the resistance becomes more steadfast and firm."

"If the enemy is screaming and moaning over what has befallen them in northern Palestine, let them prepare themselves to cry and wail."

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Iran

Sheikh Safieddine hailed the slain commander as a "brave" and "steadfast" warrior who never turned away from the field he loved.

"He is one of those who shattered the enemy's pride. He is one of the heroes of the July 2006 war, and his martyrdom today is a deserved and honorable dignity to be proud of."

In separate statements, Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad extended condolences to Hezbollah over the martyrdom of the top commander.

The Islamic Jihad hailed Sami Abdallah as a commander who played a significant role in defending Lebanon and Palestine and its people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

And Hamas praised Sami Abdullah as a fighter who “rose in defense and support, with heroic participation in the battle of our Palestinian people.”

He was killed by a strike in the south Lebanon village of Jouaiyya late on Tuesday, which reportedly also killed three other Hezbollah fighters.

Hezbollah and Israel have been trading fire since the eruption of the Gaza war in October.

The exchanges have escalated in recent weeks, with Hezbollah stepping up its drone attacks to hit Israeli military positions.

On Wednesday, Hezbollah fired a massive barrage of rockets into the northern parts of the Israeli-occupied territories,

Israeli media reported that 215 rockets were fired by Hezbollah from Wednesday morning to afternoon.

On Tuesday, Hezbollah said it fired about 50 rockets at Israeli positions in the occupied Golan Heights.

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