Hezbollah Prepared for Any Israeli Ground Offensive, Says Deputy

Hezbollah's deputy leader Naim Qassem said Monday the Iran-backed group was ready to face any Israeli ground operation, warning that the battle could last a long time. In a televised address, Qassem also said Hezbollah would choose a new chief "at the earliest opportunity" after Israel killed its leader Hassan Nasrallah in an air strike on Friday.

Qassem said Hezbollah would continue "confronting the Israeli enemy in support of Gaza and Palestine, in defence of Lebanon and its people, and in response to the assassinations and the killing of civilians". "We will face any scenario and we are ready if Israel decides to enter by land, the resistance forces are ready for any ground confrontation.

"We know the battle may be long," he said on Hezbollah's Al-Manar television channel, in first address by a senior Hezbollah leader since Nasrallah's death. Qassem said Nasrallah was killed while meeting with Iranian General Abbas Nilforoushan and Hezbollah's top commander in southern Lebanon Ali Karake, in the presence of the group leader's head guard and another Hezbollah member close to him.

"We will select a new secretary-general for the party at the earliest opportunity and according to the party's selection mechanism," he said. "Be assured that the choices will be easy because they are clear and we are united," Qassem added, without saying when the selection would take place, or when Nasrallah's funeral would be held.

While Qassem automatically takes over the Hezbollah leadership after Nasrallah's death, the group's decision-making Shura Council must meet to elect a new secretary-general.