Chief of Staff Ali Tabatabai was killed in an attack on southern Beirut on Sunday. Even then, Hezbollah accused Israel of "crossing a red line."
Naim Qassem now says the group has the right to respond to the attack and that it “will choose the right time for it.”
Israel and Hezbollah signed a ceasefire a year ago, but Israel has continued to attack targets in Lebanon, citing targeting of the Hezbollah movement, which it says is trying to rebuild its military capabilities.
According to Israel, since the ceasefire came into effect, it has carried out 1,200 targeted strikes and "killed over 370 terrorists."
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has repeatedly called on the world to “put maximum pressure” on Israel to prevent new Israeli military attacks on targets in Lebanon. This week, he said the country is in a “one-sided war that is escalating.”
Ali Tabatabai is the highest-ranking member of the movement to be killed in the past year. Hezbollah as a whole has been labeled a terrorist organization by several countries, while others – including the EU – have only labeled its armed wing as a terrorist organization.
