Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement Saturday confirmed that its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has been assassinated by Israel on Friday, a development that is likely to escalate an already spiraling conflict in the Middle East.
The group said in a statement it would continue its battle against Israel “in support of Gaza and Palestine, and in defence of Lebanon and its steadfast and honourable people”.
“Hezbollah announces the martyrdom of Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah. His Eminence passed away as a great martyr and brave hero,” groups satellite channel Al Manar TV ran the urgent news by breaking the regular programmes with the verses of Quran.
Israel claimed early Saturday that a strike on Hezbollah’s headquarters killed Sayyid Nasrallah, who has led the group since 1992.
Experts across the region believe the assasination of Sayyid Nasrallah tantamount to an earthquake for the region.
“Nasrallah was the beating heart of Hezbollah.” Professor Fawaz Gerges, Chair of Contemporary Middle Eastern Studies at London School of Economics said, adding his assasination marks the start of an “all out war”.
Sayyid Nasrallah was a founding member of the group formed in 1982, and he helped form the group into a formidable force it is today, including with the establishment of the elite special forces unit the Radwan Force.
Meanwhile in his first reaction Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei said “the Zionist criminals should know that they are too small to cause significant damage to the strong construction of Hezbollah in Lebanon”.
In a statement on Saturday he said resistance forces are the ones to decide the fate of the region despite the criminal Israeli massacres.
“The killing of defenseless people in Lebanon once again revealed to everyone the ferocity of the Zionist rabid dog, and proved the short-sightedness and stupid policy of the leaders of the usurping regime,” he said.
“Now they are trying the same foolish policy in Lebanon. The Zionist criminals should know that they are too small to cause significant damage to the strong construction of Hezbollah in Lebanon. All the resistance forces of the region are with Hezbollah and support it,” the Leader said.
Ayatollah Khamenei said the fate of the region will be decided by the resistance forces, with Hezbollah at the head of them.
Sayyed Khamenei: Fate of Region Will be Shaped by Resistance
Tehran: Iran’s Supreme Leader Sayyed Ali Khamenei urged Muslims to “stand by the people of Lebanon and the proud Hezbollah with whatever means they have and assist them in confronting the… wicked regime [of Israel].”
In a statement following an escalation of Israeli attacks on Lebanon, Sayyed Khamenei declared, “The fate of this region will be determined by the forces of resistance, with Hezbollah at the forefront.”
The Iranian leader stated that the massacre of innocent people in Lebanon has revealed both the brutal nature of the “aggressive Zionist regime and the shortsightedness of its leaders.”
He emphasized that “the terrorist group governing the Zionist entity” has failed to learn from their year-long violent campaign in Gaza and does not understand that the mass killings of women, children, and civilians will not undermine or dismantle the strong foundation of the Resistance.