Hezbollah leader says conflict with Israel in ‘new phase’ after killings

In Beirut’s southern suburbs of Dahiya, the stronghold of Hezbollah, large crowds wearing black joined the funeral for Fuad Shukr, a senior commander of the powerful Lebanese militia and political movement, and the most high-profile member to have been assassinated by Israel during these current hostilities.

They carried placards with Shukr’s face, waved the yellow-and-green Hezbollah flag and chanted some of the group’s slogans, sometimes with their fists in the air.

According to the Israeli military, Shukr was behind a missile strike that killed 12 children and teenagers on a football field in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights last Saturday. Hezbollah has denied involvement, although it initially claimed an attack on a nearby military base, which raised the possibility that the missile missed its intended targeted.

Shukr, who was also known as al-Hajj Mohsin, was said to be a close adviser to Hassan Nasrallah, the influential and long-time Hezbollah leader.

As people were gathered, Nasrallah gave a televised speech that was watched closely for any indication of Hezbollah’s possible next moves.

The conflict with Israel had entered a “new phase”, he said, speaking from a secret location, as he always does for security reasons. The enemy must wait for the “inevitable response” because it had crossed “red lines”, he added, saying that the reaction would be proportionate to Israel’s targeting of a civilian building.

His tone seemed to indicate that the group remained uninterested in another major war with Israel. But there are concerns that they could be sliding into one.

“I’m not afraid of war. We’re ready for whatever Sheikh Nasrallah decides to do,” one man in the crowd told me. “Inshallah,” said another, meaning God willing, when asked if he believed that Hezbollah would retaliate for the killing.

Shukr’s killing on Tuesday – an attack that killed six other people, including two young siblings – renewed fears that the relatively contained conflict between Hezbollah and Israel could escalate into an all-out war, with the potential to engulf the entire Middle East.