Hezbollah declares escalation to ‘new phase’ of conflict

The Lebanese Shia Islamist militant group Hezbollah has said its military confrontation with Israel is entering a new phase following the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in Gaza earlier this week.

Hezbollah had considerably stepped up its missile strikes on the neighboring country after the start of Israel’s military operation against Hamas in the Palestinian enclave last fall. This in turn was launched after Hamas militants staged a deadly incursion into Israeli territory in October 2023, killing around 1,100 people and taking more than 200 hostages.

Last month a series of hand-held pagers and radios exploded across Lebanon, killing dozens and wounding thousands of Hezbollah militants as well as civilians. While Israel has not officially claimed responsibility, many observers believe the country’s intelligence services were behind the attack. It has been followed by massive Israeli airstrikes and a limited ground operation in southern Lebanon that kicked off earlier this month.

According to Lebanese authorities, more than 2,000 people have been killed by Israeli attacks on the country since last October.

In a statement on Thursday, Hezbollah announced a “transition to a new and escalatory phase in the confrontation with the Israeli enemy, which will be reflected in the developments and events of the coming days.” The armed group noted that its rocket salvos continue to “escalate day by day,” with precision weapons “being deployed for the first time.”

The organization warned that “hundreds of fighters...are fully prepared to counter any Israeli ground incursion into southern Lebanese villages.”

Last Sunday, Hezbollah attacked an Israeli army base in Binyamina with an explosives-laden drone. The following day, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari reported that the strike had left four soldiers killed, with seven more sustaining serious injuries.

Earlier this month, the Israeli military revealed that it had lost eight commandos in two separate firefights in southern Lebanon.

On Friday, the IDF claimed it had killed Muhammad Hassin Ramal, Hezbollah’s commander of the Tayibe area in southern Lebanon.

Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that “we’ve taken out thousands of terrorists, including [Hezbollah’s longtime leader Hassan] Nasrallah himself and his replacement, as well as the replacement of his replacement.”

An Israeli airstrike on Beirut killed Nasrallah on September 27.

Earlier this month, the IDF estimated that its forces had “eliminated about 440 terrorists from the beginning of the operation [against Hezbollah in Lebanon], of which 30 were commanding officers.”