(JNS) Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem on Wednesday, Nov. 20 threatened to keep up its attacks on Tel Aviv in response to Saturday’s targeted killing in Beirut of the organization’s propaganda chief Mohammad Afif by Israel.
“Israel has attacked the heart of Beirut, so it must expect the response to take place in the center of Tel Aviv. They must pay the price,” Qassem said, according to a translation by L’Orient Today.
Earlier on Wednesday, Hezbollah’s propaganda office published a visual that referenced Monday night’s attack on Ramat Gan, a suburb of Tel Aviv, that wounded five people. “8:45 p.m.: Tel Aviv under fire,” it reads in Arabic and Hebrew, with images of the damage caused by the rocket.
Qassem stated in his speech, “The resistance [Hezbollah] is fighting to eliminate the enemy and prevent the perpetuation of its occupation, and we have been exceptional in this sense.” He added, “The resistance can maintain this pace for a long time. Israel cannot defeat us.
“The occupation [Israel] believed it could achieve through an agreement what it failed to secure on the battlefield, but that is impossible,” said Qassem.
The terrorist leader vowed to “continue our efforts on the ground, whether the negotiations succeed or not.
“We are confronting a savage enemy, and we will remain on the ground, no matter the cost, as we will also increase the cost for the enemy. We are facing Israeli human monsters supported by American human monsters,” threatened Qassem.
Three armed Hezbollah drones came down in northern Israel on Wednesday morning following several interception attempts, according to the IDF.
“Following the sirens that sounded regarding a hostile aircraft infiltration between 06:26 and 06:46 [a.m.] in the Western and Upper Galilee, Haifa Bay and Carmel areas, three UAVs were identified crossing from Lebanon into Israeli territory,” the military stated.
“Interception attempts were made, and impacts were identified in the Western Galilee area. No injuries were reported,” the statement continued.
According to Israel’s Channel 12 News, one drone impact was identified near the Western Galilee town of Betzet and another was found near Acre.
Sirens sounded for around 20 minutes across the Western and Upper Galilee, Haifa Bay and Carmel regions as the IDF tracked the drones and attempted to intercept them.
Later in the morning, a Hezbollah rocket barrage directly struck a building in the evacuated border city of Kiryat Shmona. No injuries were reported. Three firefighting teams promptly arrived to extinguish the blaze and address a gas leak.
On Wednesday afternoon, a Hezbollah rocket fired from Lebanon hit a kindergarten in Acre. There were no casualties in the attack, as the building was empty.
During a situational assessment on the ground in Southern Lebanon on Tuesday, OC Northern Command Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin told soldiers that the military was still “in the middle of an offensive in this area.”
“We are operating under the overall goal of creating the conditions for the safe return of the northern residents to their homes,” stated the Israeli military commander. “This is an important, moral goal, and the basis of Northern Command’s objective—to protect the residents.
