Hezbollah claims right to respond to killing of top commander

Hezbollah's chief, Sheikh Naim Qassem, said on Friday that the movement has the right to respond to Israel's assassination of its top military commander in a strike on Beirut's southern suburbs last Sunday.

In a televised speech, Qassem condemned the killing of Haitham Ali Tabatabai as "a blatant aggression and a heinous crime," adding that Hezbollah "has the right to respond."

"We will determine the timing for that," he said.

While acknowledging that "there is infiltration and there are spies” operating in Lebanon, he said the country is “an open arena in which the enemy is coordinating with US, international and Arab sides."

He also conceded that "there is no parity in power with the Israeli enemy, neither militarily nor in intelligence."

"The state should be in charge of deterrence — through its army and its people," the Hezbollah chief said.

Responding to a wave of Israeli threats and reports about a possible escalation against Lebanon, Qassem said: "All these threats are a form of political pressure."

He warned that "those who seek to remove weapons are serving Israel," and he added that Hezbollah is "ready to discuss weapons and a defence strategy, but not under pressure and not as part of a new agreement."

"We are ready for political discussions about arms and a defence strategy, but not under Israeli pressure and not through annulling the current agreement," he said.

"Surrendering is out of the question," he said.

Israel and the Iranian-backed militia agreed to a ceasefire in November 2024 after more than a year of intense cross-border fire. But Israeli forces have continued to carry out strikes, mainly in southern Lebanon, as both sides accuse the other of violating the truce.