Hashem Safieddine, the head of Hezbollah's executive council on 4 July 2024. (Credit: Screenshot from the speech at the Sayyed al-Shuhada complex in the southern suburbs of Beirut Thursday.
BEIRUT — “The response to Abu Naame's assassination began yesterday and will continue with further actions targeting unexpected locations,” Hashem Safieddine, the head of Hezbollah's executive council, said during the funeral of killed Hezbollah commander Mohammad Nasser, known as Abu Naame, at the Sayyed al-Shuhada complex in Beirut's southern suburbs on Thursday.
Nasser, commander of the "Aziz" Unit, was killed Wednesday in an Israeli drone strike that targeted his car in al-Hosh, in southern Lebanon's Sour district.
Over 200 rockets have been fired into Israel by Hezbollah since Nasser's assassination, marking the second time in a month that an Israeli attack has killed a regional commander for the group.
“When a leader ascends as a martyr, another takes up the flag, strengthening our resolve and firming our stance against Israel,” Safieddine said.
Safieddine highlighted that over the past nine months, “resistance fighters have achieved remarkable results that have left the enemy bewildered, both in Lebanon and Gaza.”
Addressing Israelis directly, Safieddine asserted, “This assassination does not grant them any military advantage or count as an achievement, contrasting it with what the brave Abu Naame had accomplished.”
He added, "The failure in Gaza indicates that this exhausted army cannot achieve victories anymore, despite successive strikes since 2000. It will not be able to achieve victories in any battle or confrontation."
Safieddine concluded by reiterating that the response to Abu Naame's assassination began yesterday and will "continue" with further actions targeting "unexpected locations."