Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Foreign Minister Israel Katz called for the elimination of the new Hamas leader and the Hezbollah leader.
Katz called for the “swift elimination” of Yahya Sinwar, who was appointed by Hamas as the group’s new political leader in place of Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in Tehran last week.
“The appointment of arch-terrorist Yahya Sinwar as the new leader of Hamas, to replace Ismail Haniyeh, is another compelling reason to quickly eliminate him and wipe this vile organization off the face of the earth,” Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in a statement on the X social network.
Smotrich also called for the assassination of Hezbollah Secretary General Nasrallah.
“Israel should not respond to Nasrallah; Israel should eliminate Nasrallah,” wrote Smotrich, leader of the Religious Zionism party, on X.
The announcement came in response to a speech by Nasrallah in which he promised a “significant and effective” response to the Israeli killing of prominent Hezbollah figure Fuad Shukr.
Israel is on high alert expecting a revenge strike by the Lebanese resistance group for Shukr’s killing in an attack on the southern suburbs of Beirut last Tuesday.
Israel is also bracing for responses from Iran, following accusations of Tel Aviv’s involvement in the assassination of Hamas political office chief Haniyeh in the Iranian capital Tehran last Wednesday; and by the Houthi group in Yemen after airstrikes hit Al Hudaydah province on July 20.
Nasrallah said Tuesday that Hezbollah would respond to Shukr’s killing, either alone or in concert with its Iranian and Yemeni allies. He suggested that Israel’s waiting for a response was “part of the punishment.”
Nasrallah stressed that Hezbollah is committed to revenge for Shukr’s murder, and Iran is also obliged to respond to Haniyeh’s murder, while Yemen will respond to the strikes on Al Hudaydah.
He assured that all three have the ability to respond and that they need time to act thoughtfully.
He warned that his group could “within half an hour or an hour” destroy the chemical, technology and food factories in northern Israel, which took 34 years to build.
Nasrallah’s remarks underscore growing threats and the potential for a wider regional conflict.
“We will respond, but thoughtfully and judiciously,” the Hezbollah chief said.
Fears of full-scale war between Israel and the Lebanese group have grown amid months of cross-border firefights.
The escalation comes against the backdrop of Israel’s assault on Gaza, which has killed more than 39,600 people since October following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas, Klix.ba writes.
