"We destroyed Hezbollah's fighting ability. We killed thousands of terrorists, including Hassan Nasrallah, Nasrallah's successor, and his successor's successor," Netanyahu said in a video released by the Israeli prime minister's office. He did not name the successors.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Hashem Safieddine, Nasrallah's expected successor, may have been "destroyed." It was not immediately clear who Netanyahu was referring to when he said "the successor's successor."
On the same day, Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said that Israel had information about Safieddine's presence at Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters when the headquarters was bombed by Israel last week, and that Safieddine's condition "is still being checked, we will inform the public when we have more information".
Safieddine has not been seen in public since the Israeli airstrike, which was carried out to bolster Israel’s campaign in Lebanon after a year of conflict with Hezbollah, Iran’s most heavily armed proxy in the Middle East and has been active in supporting Palestinian militias fighting Israel in Gaza.
"Today, Hezbollah is the weakest it has been in many years," Netanyahu said.
On Tuesday, the Israeli military said that air strikes on Hezbollah underground facilities in southern Lebanon in the previous 24 hours had killed at least 50 members of the group, including six regional commanders and regional officials.
Heightened tensions in the region were sparked a year ago when the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an attack on southern Israel, and have escalated dramatically in recent weeks to engulf all of Lebanon.
On October 1, Iran, which sponsors Hezbollah and Hamas, launched a barrage of missiles at Israel. On Tuesday, Iran warned Israel to follow through on its promise to respond.
Iran's Foreign Ministry has said any attack on Iran's infrastructure will be met with retaliation, and a senior Iranian official has sent a message to Gulf countries that if they allow their airspace to be used in attacks on Iran, Iran will consider the decision "unacceptable" and will respond.
Western powers are seeking a diplomatic solution, fearing the conflict could spread across the Middle East.
On Tuesday, the Pentagon announced that Mr. Gallant would not visit Washington and would not participate in a meeting with his American counterpart, Lloyd Austin, that had been previously planned.
In a speech broadcast from a secret location, Hezbollah deputy leader Naim Qassem said he supported efforts towards a ceasefire.
Photo: REUTERS/Ahmad Al-Kerdi.
This is the first time that ending the war in Gaza has not been included as a provision of a ceasefire in Lebanon. Qassem said Hezbollah has backed several proposals from Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally, to end the conflict.
Netanyahu's office declined to comment on Qassem's remarks. US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said at a press briefing that Hezbollah had "changed its mind and wanted a ceasefire" because the group was "weak and continues to suffer heavy losses" on the battlefield.
Qassem said Hezbollah's fighting capacity remained intact despite "severe blows" from Israel. "Dozens of Israeli cities are still within the range of the resistance's missiles. I assure you, we still have the fighting capacity."
The 4th Israeli Division at Lebanon
The Israeli army said it had sent its 146th Division to southern Lebanon, the first reserve division to be deployed outside the border, and that the force would expand the scale of its ground campaign against Hezbollah from southeastern Lebanon towards the country's southwest.
An Israeli military spokesman declined to say how many troops were in Lebanon. However, the Israeli military has previously said it has three other divisions operating there, meaning there are thousands of troops on Lebanese soil.
On October 1, the Israeli army announced that ground forces had entered Lebanon, initially with commando units, followed by regular armored units and infantry units.
Overnight, Israel bombed a southern suburb of Beirut, Hezbollah’s capital, and said it had killed an individual responsible for the group’s spending and logistics, Suhail Hussein Husseini. He was the latest in a series of assassinations targeting senior Hezbollah officials.
The Israeli military on Tuesday issued a new evacuation warning to local residents, especially in the southern suburbs of Beirut where Hezbollah is based.
In northern Israel not far from the Lebanese border, air raid sirens were sounded throughout Tuesday and the country's authorities said Hezbollah had launched nearly 200 rockets at Israel.
An Israeli military spokesman said that in October, about 3,000 rockets were launched at Israel, but interception by air defense systems prevented casualties or serious damage.
On Tuesday, the targets included Haifa, the northern Israeli port city where there were reports of damage to several buildings from rocket debris. The Israeli military said it had destroyed the rocket launcher that struck Haifa.
The escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has killed more than 1,000 people in Lebanon in the past two weeks and displaced millions.
Israel has said the aim of the operation is to secure the country's north from Hezbollah rockets and allow thousands of evacuees to return home safely.
Nguyen Quang Minh (According to Reuters)
Source: https://www.nguoiduatin.vn/israel-tuyen-bo-da-tieu-diet-nguoi-ke-nhiem-vai-tro-lanh-dao-hezbollah-204241009084604293.htm
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