Hassan Nasrallah killed: Hamas says ‘assassination’ will only strengthen resistance; Iran says Hezbollah leader’s ‘path to continue’

Iranian Vice-President Mohammad Javad Zarif also expressed his condolences, praising Nasrallah as a “symbol of the fight against oppression”

Palestinian militant group Hamas said on Saturday (September 28, 2024) it mourned Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah following his killing in an Israeli airstrike, saying his death would only fuel the fight against Israel.

"Crimes and assassination by the occupation will only increase the determination and the insistence of the resistance in Palestine and Lebanon to go forward with all their might, bravery and pride on the footsteps of the martyrs...and pursue the path of resistance until victory and the dismissal of the occupation," Hamas said in a statement.

His death marks a heavy blow to Hezbollah as it reels from an escalating campaign of Israeli attacks. It is also a huge blow to Iran, given the major role he has played in the Tehran-backed regional “Axis of Resistance.”

Israeli airstrikes LIVE updates: Hezbollah confirms leader Nasrallah killed; vows to continue battle

The 'Axis of Resistance' refers to groups including Hezbollah that are backed by Iran and have been waging attacks on Israel since war erupted between their ally Hamas and Israel on October 7.

"We reaffirm our absolute solidarity and standing with the brothers in Hezbollah and the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon, who are taking part in the battle of the Al-Aqsa Flood to defend Al-Aqsa mosque, alongside our people and our resistance," Hamas added.

Islamic Jihad, another Iranian-backed Palestinian group, said in a statement: "Sooner or later, the resistance forces in Lebanon, Palestine, and the region will make the enemy pay the price of its crimes, and taste defeat for what its sinful hands have done."

Gaza has a population of 2.3 million people, most of whom have been internally displaced by the war, which has killed 41,500 of them, according to Gaza health authorities.

Israel and Hamas have been fighting since gunmen from the Palestinian militant group stormed into southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and capturing some 250 hostages, by Israeli tallies.

Asked how Nasrallah's death would affect the fight against Israel, senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters: "The assassination of Hassan Nasrallah will not break the will of the resistance and we are confident that the occupation will lose the battle," said Abu Zuhri.

Iran says Hezbollah leader’s ‘path to continue’ despite his killing

Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Saturday (September 28, 2024) the path of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah will continue despite his killing.

“The glorious path of the leader of the resistance, Hassan Nasrallah, will continue and his sacred goal will be realised in the liberation of Quds (Jerusalem), God willing,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said in a post on social media X, mourning Nasrallah’s death.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah group, armed and financed by Iran, on Saturday (September 28, 2024) confirmed Nasrallah had been killed, after Israel said it had “eliminated” him in an air strike a day earlier.

The statement confirmed he was killed with other group members “following the treacherous Zionist strike on the southern suburbs” of Beirut.

Iranian Vice-President Mohammad Javad Zarif also expressed his condolences, praising Nasrallah as a “symbol of the fight against oppression.”

Hezbollah is listed as terrorist group by the United States.

A black flag for mourning was hoisted at the Shiite Islam holy Imam Reza shrine in Iran’s northeastern city Mashhad, according to the local Tasnim news agency.

Mourners gathered there, waving yellow Hezbollah banners, along with Iranian flags as they chanted, “Death to Israel,” state TV showed.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry gave a preliminary toll of six dead and 91 wounded from the latest strikes on Beirut’s densely populated southern suburbs since Friday (September 28, 2024), the fiercest to hit Hezbollah’s stronghold since Israel and the group last went to war in 2006.

Earlier on Saturday (September 28, 2024), Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei condemned what he called an Israeli “massacre” in Lebanon and lambasted the “shortsighted” Israeli policy.

Published - September 28, 2024 06:47 pm IST