Israel should eliminate Nasrallah, not respond to his speech, says Smotrich

This picture taken on January 3, 2022 shows a view of a screen displaying a televised speech by the head of the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah, airing during a memorial service marking the second anniversary of a US drone strike that killed the top commander of the Iranian revolutionary guard corps (IRGC) Qasem Soleimani alongside Iraqi commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, at a hall in a school in the southern suburb of Lebanon’s capital Beirut. [ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images]

Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Tuesday that, “Israel should not respond to Nasrallah; Israel should eliminate Nasrallah,” after a speech by the Secretary-General of Hezbollah in tribute to Fuad Shukr who was killed by Israel in Beirut last week. Smotrich made his comment in a post on X.

According to Al Jazeera, Nasrallah said today that Iran, Hezbollah and the Houthis in Yemen are all considering their response against Israel after its assassination of both Shukr and the head of the Hamas political bureau Ismail Haniyeh, as well as the bombing of Hodeidah in Yemen. The current wait in anticipation of a response is part of the “punishment” for the occupation state, he added.

Nasrallah confirmed that the ability to respond exists, but the implementation will be done with deliberation, prudence and courage. Israel, he pointed out, is afraid of the response and is seeking help from the US.

He added that Iran and Syria are not required to intervene in the fighting, but rather are required to support the resistance militarily, materially and morally. A response from Hezbollah is inevitable, said the movement’s leader, whether individually or jointly with the axis of resistance.

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