Hezbollah has ‘no choice’ but to defend itself after deadly Israeli strikes: Official

A senior Hezbollah official says the Lebanese resistance movement “has no longer any option” but to defend itself after the deadliest Israeli strikes in weeks hit the Beqaa Valley in eastern Lebanon and killed eight members of the group, including high-profile commander Hussein Mohammed Yaghi.

“What happened yesterday in the Beqaa is a new massacre and a new aggression, exceeding all the previous levels of aggression against Lebanon,” Mahmoud Qamati, deputy head of Hezbollah’s political council, stated in a speech broadcast by Hezbollah’s al-Manar television network during a protest in the capital Beirut on Saturday.

“What option do we have left to defend ourselves and our country? What option do we have other than resistance?” he noted.

The remarks came as two officials with Hezbollah said earlier on Saturday that the eight members were killed in strikes near the village of Rayak in northeast Lebanon late on Friday.

One of the Hezbollah officials said three of the dead were local commanders and identified them as Ali al-Moussawi, Mohammed al-Moussawi, and Hussein Yaghi.

Yaghi was the son of Mohammed Yaghi, a prominent Hezbollah official and one of its founders, who died in 2023. Mohammed Yaghi was also a close aide to the late Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who was assassinated in an Israeli airstrike in southern Beirut in September 2024.

Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health said on Saturday that Israeli strikes on eastern Lebanon killed 10 people and wounded 24, including three children.

MP: Condemnations fall short as Israeli attacks continue

Meanwhile, Rami Abu Hamdan, a member of Hezbollah’s Loyalty to Resistance parliamentary bloc, said on Saturday that condemnations are no longer effective regarding incessant Israeli attacks, stressing that the Lebanese blood “is not to be treated as cheap.”

Abu Hamdan then slammed Lebanese authorities for inaction over Israeli attacks on Lebanon.

“The authorities must enact a fundamental shift in how they defend the nation. What happened tonight in the Beqaa, and what recurs night after night in southern Lebanon, cannot be normalized or treated as routine,” the lawmaker stated.

He stressed that “It is unacceptable for officials to behave like detached political analysts, reducing these assaults to ‘familiar’ Israeli strikes we are expected to be subjected to ahead of every ceasefire monitoring committee meeting.”

Abu Hamdan called on Lebanese officials to suspend participation in the committee’s sessions “until the aggression stops.”

“The authorities must act swiftly and effectively. The government and the entire state must seriously shoulder their responsibilities, abandon the policy of submission and surrender that only emboldens the criminal enemy to threaten Lebanon’s security and the safety of its honorable and dignified citizens. Further political maneuvering without strength is a mere waste of time, lives, and losses in the country,” the Lebanese legislator stated.

Lebanon’s president condemns Israeli strikes as 'blatant act of aggression'

Joseph Aoun described the regime

Israeli violations of the November 2024 ceasefire have caused the deaths and injuries of hundreds of Lebanese nationals. Israel continues to occupy five Lebanese highlands seized during the latest war, as well as additional areas of Lebanon it has held for many years

In October 2023, Israel initiated military strikes against Lebanon, which escalated into a comprehensive war by September 2024, resulting in more than 4,000 deaths and around 17,000 injuries.

Lebanese officials have repeatedly urged pressure on Tel Aviv to cease its attacks and comply with the ceasefire terms. They are calling for the withdrawal of Israeli soldiers from the areas captured in the latest war.

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