The Japan Times - Hezbollah vows resistance after deadly Israeli strike

Lebanon's government has vowed to disarm Hezbollah, but Israel insists it retains the right to defend itself by striking the Iran-backed militant group.

On Friday, the Israeli military said it had hit Hezbollah command centres in eastern Lebanon and targets linked to the Palestinian group Hamas in the south.

Hezbollah said Saturday that eight of its fighters had been killed, after Lebanon's health ministry said 10 people died in the east and two in the south.

"What happened yesterday in the Bekaa is a new massacre and a new aggression," Hezbollah official Mahmud Qamati said, in a speech broadcast by the Al-Manar network.

"What option do we have left to defend ourselves and our country? What option do we have other than resistance? We no longer have any option."

Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun also condemned the attacks, which came just days after the government said the army will start implementing the second phase of its plan to disarm Hezbollah in the south of the country.

The strikes came as tensions were also building between the United States and Iran, with US President Donald Trump threatening military action over the Islamic republic's nuclear programme.

Iran backs several armed groups in the region, including Hezbollah and Hamas.

In Lebanon's eastern city of Baalbek, a mass funeral was held for commander Hussein Mohammad Yaghi and one of the fighters, with hundreds of people gathered, waving Hezbollah flags and chanting support.

A Hezbollah official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP all eight members of the group were attending a meeting in the eastern Bekaa region when a strike killed them.

The Israeli military said it had targeted "several terrorists of Hezbollah's missile array in three different command centres in the Baalbek area".

An AFP correspondent in eastern Lebanon saw a bulldozer clearing debris following the strike on Bednayel, and a heavily damaged building between Riyak and Ali al-Nahri, where the Hezbollah official said the members were meeting.

The raids were against targets in residential areas, according to the correspondent.

They came hours after an Israeli strike on the country's largest Palestinian refugee camp in the south killed two people, according to the health ministry, with Israel's army saying it had targeted Hamas.

In a statement, Hamas condemned the attack, which it said led to civilian casualties as the targeted building "belongs to the joint security force charged with maintaining security and stability in the camp".

- 'Act of aggression' -

Israel has kept up regular strikes on Lebanon despite a November 2024 ceasefire that sought to halt more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah, usually saying it is targeting the group, but occasionally also Hamas militants.

Aoun called Friday's attacks "a blatant act of aggression aimed at thwarting diplomatic efforts" by the United States and other nations to establish stability.

Washington is one of five members of a multinational committee overseeing the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, with the body scheduled to meet again next week.

Hezbollah lawmaker Rami Abu Hamdan said the group "will not accept the authorities acting as mere political analysts, dismissing these as Israeli strikes we have grown accustomed to before every meeting of the committee".

He called on Beirut to "suspend the committee's meetings until the enemy ceases its attacks".

Lebanon's government last year committed to disarming the group, with the army saying last month it had completed the first phase of the plan covering the area near the Israeli border.

Israel, which accuses Hezbollah of rearming since the war, has called the Lebanese army's progress on disarming the militant group insufficient.

Against the backdrop of the tensions between Washington and Iran, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said last month that any attack on the group's backer would also be an attack on the militants.

K.Yoshida--JT