A day after IDF fighter jets took down Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned Iran that Israel’s military could strike wherever in the region it needs.
Stating that Nasrallah's death will reshape the Middle East’s power structures, Netanyahu, in his first speech since the assassination of the militant group's leader, said Israel’s targeting of Nasrallah was necessary to achieve Israel’s war aims. "Nasrallah wasn’t just another terrorist. He was the terrorist," he said. "Eliminating Nasrallah was an essential condition for achieving the goals that we have set out — returning the residents of the north safely to their homes and changing the balance of power in the region for years."
Netanyahu said the killings of other top Hezbollah commanders was not enough and he decided Nasrallah also needed to be killed because "as long as Nasrallah was alive, he would have quickly rehabilitated Hezbollah’s capabilities."
In a direct warning to Tehran, Netanyahu said: "Those who strike at us, we will strike at them. There is nowhere in Iran or the Middle East beyond the reach of the long arm of Israel, and today you know how true that is."
His statement comes as Iran reportedly relocated Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to a secure location after the news about Nasrallah's killing broke.
Israel had reportedly been aware of Nasrallah’s hideout for months but finally decided to take out Nasrallah as it believed Israel could lose the opportunity.
Also read: How Israel planned Nasrallah's murder, dropped 80 bombs within minutes
Iran has announced five days of public mourning and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called Nasrallah the flag-bearer of resistance in the region. He said the blood of the martyr shall not go unavenged. "The massacre of the defenseless people in Lebanon once again revealed the ferocity of the Zionist rabid dog to everyone, and proved the shortsighted and stupid policy of the leaders of the usurping regime," he said.
He also urged the Muslims to "stand by the people of Lebanon and the proud Hezbollah with whatever means they have and assist them in confronting the… wicked regime [of Israel]."
Who is Hashem Safieddine, the heir?
Though Hezbollah has yet to announce it, the militant group will likely next be headed by Hashem Safieddine, the cousin of Nasrallah.
After Nasrallah, who led the organisation for 32 years, died on Friday, Israeli media reported that Safieddine will take over as the new chief. He is the current head of Hezbollah's political affairs and sits on the Jihad Council, which manages the group’s military operations.
Safieddine is a cleric and is sported in a black turban just like Nasrallah. He was also a designated terrorist, who has vocally urged Palestinians to take up arms against Israel. "Our history, our guns and our rockets are with you", Safieddine said in a show of solidarity with Palestinian terrorists recently.
He had also hit out at the US and once in 2017, called the then-Donald Trump administration "mentally impeded and crazy".
