By Zein Khalil
JERUSALEM (AA) - Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich urged Tuesday the assassination of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah.
“Israel should not respond to Nasrallah; Israel should eliminate Nasrallah,” Smotrich, the leader of the Religious Zionism party, wrote on X.
The post came in response to a speech by Nasrallah in which he vowed a “significant and effective” response to Israel's assassination of prominent Hezbollah figure Fuad Shukr.
Israel is on heightened alert, anticipating a retaliatory strike from the Lebanese resistance group for Shukr's assassination in an attack on Beirut's southern suburbs last Tuesday.
Israel is also bracing for responses from Iran, following allegations of Tel Aviv's involvement in the assassination of Hamas’ political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in the Iranian capital Tehran last Wednesday; and from the Iranian-backed Houthi group in Yemen after airstrikes hit the Al Hudaydah province on July 20.
Nasrallah asserted Tuesday that Hezbollah would respond to Shukr's assassination -- alone or in concert with Iranian and Yemeni allies. He suggested Israel's anticipation of the response is "part of the punishment."
Nasrallah emphasized that Hezbollah is committed to retaliating against Shukr's assassination, and similarly, Iran is obligated to respond to Haniyeh's killing, while Yemen will react to the strikes on Al Hudaydah.
He assured that all three have the capability to respond and are taking time to act deliberately.
He warned that his group could “within half an hour or an hour” destroy chemical, technology and food factories in northern Israel, which took 34 years to build.
Nasrallah's remarks underline the escalating threats and potential for a broader regional conflict.
“We will respond, but with deliberation and prudence,” said the Hezbollah chief.
Fears have grown about a full-blown war between Israel and the Lebanese group amid a months-long exchange of cross-border fire.
The escalation comes against the backdrop of an Israeli onslaught against Gaza, which has killed more than 39,600 victims since October following an attack by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas.
*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul