Hezbollah leader vows retaliation against Israel for attacks on equipment as both sides exchange attacks

BEIRUT (AP) — The leader of Hezbollah vowed Thursday that he would continue to fly daily attacks on Israel despite the deadly sabotage of his members' communications equipment this week. He said Israelis displaced from their homes near the Lebanese border by the fighting would not be able to return until the war in Gaza ends.

Hezbollah and Israel launched new attacks across the border as Hassan Nasrallah spoke for the first time since the mass bombing of facilities in Lebanon and Syria, which he called a “heavy blow” and for which he vowed retaliation.

The two-day attacks on thousands of Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies were widely attributed to Israel, heightening fears that 11 months of near-daily gunfire between Hezbollah and Israel could escalate into all-out war. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement in the attacks.

During Nasrallah's speech, Hezbollah struck at least four times in northern Israel, and two Israeli soldiers were killed in an attack earlier in the day. As Nasrallah spoke, Israeli warplanes flew low over Beirut, breaking the sound barrier. Birds were scared away and people in homes and offices quickly opened windows to prevent them from shattering.

Israel also launched attacks in southern Lebanon on Thursday, saying it had hit dozens of Hezbollah rocket launch sites and other infrastructure, but it was not immediately clear whether there were any casualties.

In recent weeks, Israeli politicians have stepped up warnings of a possible major military operation against Hezbollah, saying they are determined to stop the group's fire to allow tens of thousands of Israelis to return to their homes near the border.

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In a briefing on Thursday, Israel's defense minister said Hezbollah would “pay a rising price” as Israel sought to make conditions near the border with Lebanon safe enough for residents to return.

“The sequence of our military actions will continue,” he said.

The attack on electronic devices was apparently the culmination of a months-long Israeli operation to target as many Hezbollah members as possible at once. But civilians were also hit. At least 37 people were killed in the explosions on Tuesday and Wednesday, including two children, and around 3,000 injured.

Nasrallah said the group was investigating how the bombings were carried out.

“Yes, we have been dealt a huge and heavy blow,” he said. “The enemy has crossed all borders and red lines,” he said. He pointed to the number of pagers and walkie-talkies and accused Israel of trying to kill thousands of people at once. “The enemy will suffer a heavy and just punishment where he expects it and where he does not expect it.”

He said Hezbollah would continue its shelling of northern Israel as long as the war in Gaza continued and vowed that Israel would not be able to bring its population back to the border region. “The only way is to end the aggression against the people of Gaza and the West Bank,” he said. “Neither attacks, assassinations nor open war will achieve that.”

On Thursday, Hezbollah said it had attacked three Israeli military positions near the border, two of them with drones. Israeli hospitals reported eight people with light to moderate injuries.

Hezbollah describes its almost daily shelling as a sign of support for Hamas. Israel's 11-month war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip began after Hezbollah militias led the attack on Israel on October 7.

Israel responded to Hezbollah's attacks with attacks in southern Lebanon and targeted high-ranking figures of the group in the capital Beirut. The attacks killed hundreds in Lebanon and dozens in Israel. Tens of thousands of residents on both sides of the border had to be evacuated.

Israel and Hezbollah have repeatedly withdrawn from full-scale war under strong pressure from the United States, France and other countries.

But in their recent warnings, Israeli politicians have declared that they are determined to drastically change the status quo.

In a speech to Israeli troops on Wednesday, Gallant said: “We are at the beginning of a new phase of the war – it requires courage, determination and perseverance.” He made no mention of the exploding bombs, but praised the work of the Israeli army and security authorities and said: “The results are very impressive.”

He said that after months of fighting against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, “the center of gravity is shifting with the diversion of resources and forces to the north.”

Israel began moving more troops to the Lebanese border on Wednesday as a precautionary measure, Israeli officials said. Israeli army chief Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said plans had been drawn up for further action against Hezbollah. However, media reports said the government has not yet decided whether to launch a major offensive in Lebanon.

Lebanon is still suffering from the consequences of the deadly bomb attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The explosions have left Lebanese people feeling uneasy and fearing a full-scale war. The Lebanese army said it had located and detonated suspicious pagers and communication devices. The country's civil aviation authority has banned pagers and walkie-talkies on all planes departing from Beirut's international airport until further notice.

The attack is expected to significantly disrupt Hezbollah's internal communications, as Hezbollah is desperately seeking secure lines of communication. Hezbollah announced the deaths of five fighters on Thursday, but did not say whether they were killed in the explosions or on the front lines.

The explosions went off wherever the pager or walkie-talkie carriers happened to be in many parts of Beirut and eastern and southern Lebanon: in homes and cars, grocery stores and cafes, and on the streets, even at the funerals of some of those killed in the bombings, often in the presence of family members and other passersby.

Many suffered gaping wounds on their legs, stomachs and faces, or were mutilated in the hand. Tuesday's pager explosions killed 12 people, including two children, and injured about 2,300 others. The explosion the following day killed 25 people and injured more than 600, Health Minister Firas Abiad said, giving updated figures.

Abiad told reporters that Wednesday's injuries were more severe than the previous day because the exploding walkie-talkies were larger than the pagers. He praised Lebanese hospitals, saying they managed to treat the flood of injured within hours. “It was an indiscriminate attack. It was a war crime,” he said.

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