Hezbollah Threatens New Targets Amid Conflict

Hezbollah has warned it will find new targets for its rocket attacks should Israeli attacks continue to “target” civilians in Lebanon.

Hassan Nasrallah, the Lebanese armed group’s leader, delivered the threat during a televised address. His words increase concern that the low-level conflict that Israel and the group have pursued since the start of the war in Gaza could escalate towards a full-scale war.

Hezbollah will hit new targets in Israel if it keeps killing civilians in Lebanon, the group's leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said, noting a spike in the number of non-combatants killed in Lebanon in recent days.

Five civilians, all Syrians and including three children, were killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon and at least three Lebanese civilians were killed the day before, according to state media and security sources.

"Continuing to target civilians will push the Resistance to launch missiles at settlements that were not previously targeted," Nasrallah said, in comments made during a televised address to mark the Shi'ite holy day Ashura.

Hezbollah, a militant group, refers to all Israeli population centers as settlements and does not recognize Israel.

Israel and Hezbollah have been trading fire since Hezbollah announced a "support front" with Palestinians shortly after its ally Hamas attacked southern Israeli border communities on October 7, triggering Israel's ensuing military offensive in Gaza.

In Lebanon, the fighting has killed more than 100 civilians and more than 300 Hezbollah fighters and led to levels of destruction in Lebanese border towns and villages not seen since the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war.

Nasrallah promised that totally or partially destroyed homes would be rebuilt "more beautiful than they were before."