War on Lebanon: Hezbollah to choose new leader soon as Israel expands Beirut strikes
Lebanon's Hezbollah will choose a new leader at the earliest opportunity, the group's deputy chief Naim Qassem said on Monday in the first public address since Israel killed longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah.
In a televised speech, Qassem said the choice would be made based on the party's selection mechanism and reassured members that the process would be smooth.
"Be assured the choices will be easy because they are clear and we are united," Qassem added.
He also said the party was appointing replacements for other military leaders who have been killed in recent weeks.
In response to claims that Hezbollah’s missile capabilities were dealt a heavy blow, Qassem said the Israelis were “dreaming” with their assessments.
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He added that the party had prepared for a long fight and had deployed the “bare minimum” of their capabilities so far.
His comments came as the Israeli military continued to expand its aerial bombardments across Lebanon.
In a major escalation, fighter jets bombed an apartment in central Beirut on Sunday night, in the first such attack outside the capital's southern suburbs, colloquially known as Dahiyeh, since hostilities began nearly a year ago.
The attack killed at least three senior members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
Separately, an Israeli strike in the El Buss camp for Palestinian refugees south of Tyre killed the leader of Hamas in Lebanon, Fateh Sherif Abu al-Amin, with his wife and children, the Palestinian movement said.
The Lebanese health ministry said Israeli attacks killed 105 people on Sunday, bringing the death toll since 8 October to 1,640, including 104 children and 194 women, with more than 8,408 people wounded.
In his speech on Monday, Qassem also said that Hezbollah was ready to confront an Israeli ground invasion of Lebanon.
"We will face any possibility and we are ready if the Israelis decide to enter by land and the resistance forces are ready for a ground engagement," he said.
Israeli leaders have said in recent weeks that they have been training for ground offensives and have not ruled out the possibility of launching the invasion soon.
Defence Minister Yoav Gallant hinted that the offensive was on the horizon on Monday.
Speaking to armoured corps soldiers on Israel's northern border, Gallant said: “We will use all of our capabilities - including you."
Meanwhile, Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said his government was ready to implement the 2006 UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which would see Hezbollah's armed presence removed about 30 km north of Israel’s border.
Mikati said the Lebanese government was ready to implement the agreement in exchange for a ceasefire.
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