BEIRUT (Reuters) – Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah mentioned on Sunday that his group would assess the affect of its rocket and drone assault on Israeli army targets earlier within the day earlier than figuring out whether or not it might perform additional assaults to avenge a slain commander.
The chief of the Lebanese armed group mentioned in a televised handle that it had been capable of perform its assault “as deliberate,” denying statements by the Israeli army that its pre-emptive strikes had stopped a wider assault by the group.
Nasrallah, talking about 12 hours after essentially the most intense change of fireplace between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel since hostilities broke out in parallel with the warfare in Gaza, mentioned the group had deliberately avoided concentrating on civilians or public infrastructure, together with Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv.
He mentioned the group’s foremost goal was a army intelligence base about 110 km (70 miles) inside Israeli territory – the deepest assault but and simply 1.5 km (1 mile) north of Tel Aviv.
Nasrallah mentioned the group would assess the outcomes of the operation, a retaliation for Israel’s killing of prime Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr on the perimeters of Beirut final month.
“If the end result is just not sufficient, then we retain the proper to reply one other time,” Nasrallah mentioned.
Hezbollah fighters had efficiently launched a volley of greater than 300 Katyusha rockets to distract Israel’s Iron Dome defences earlier than sending assault drones, he mentioned.
They included drones fired from the japanese Bekaa Valley, a primary for the group, he mentioned. Not one of the drone or rocket launchers had been broken in Israel’s pre-emptive strikes, he mentioned.
Nasrallah mentioned Hezbollah had not deliberate a bigger assault, particularly denying Israeli army statements that the group had meant to fireplace 1000’s of projectiles.
However he acknowledged that the operation had been delayed for a number of causes, together with what he referred to as a “mobilization” of Israeli and American army property within the area.
