Hezbollah has been engaging in near-daily exchanges of fire with Israeli forces, claiming to target military positions over the border. This escalation follows an attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7, which ignited the conflict in Gaza.
On August 3, Iran announced its expectation for Hezbollah to extend its targets deeper into Israel and not limit its responses to military positions. This statement came after an Israeli strike in a densely populated residential area in South Beirut, which resulted in the death of Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr. Lebanon's health ministry reported that five civilians, including three women and two children, were also killed in the strike.
According to Iran's mission to the United Nations, "We expect Hezbollah to choose more targets and strike deeper in its response, and it will not limit its response to military targets."
Israel claimed responsibility for the strike, alleging that Shukr was behind rocket fire that killed 12 youths in the Golan Heights and had been directing Hezbollah's attacks on Israel since the onset of the Gaza war.
Following the strike, the political leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in a pre-dawn "hit" on his accommodation in Tehran, as confirmed by Iran's Revolutionary Guards. Israel has not commented on this incident.
Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, warned Israel and its supporters to expect a significant response to the killings of Shukr and Haniyeh. Iran and Hamas have also vowed retaliation.
In Iran, calls for revenge have grown louder since Haniyeh's killing. An opinion piece in the ultraconservative Kayhan daily suggested that upcoming retaliatory actions would be "more diverse, more dispersed, and impossible to intercept," with targets including Tel Aviv, Haifa, and strategic centers.
Late Friday, an Iranian state TV presenter predicted "astounding and major events" in Israel in the near future.
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