TEHRAN - Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah says the fighting has entered “a new phase” after Israel’s assassination of its top military commander Fouad Shukr and Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, Press TV reported.

In a speech broadcast at the funeral of Hezbollah Shukr on Thursday, the Hezbollah chief said Israel has “crossed red lines” in the assassinations and that it must expect “rage and revenge on all the fronts supporting Gaza.”

Nasrallah said he had ordered Hezbollah forces in southern Lebanon to curb operations on Wednesday and Thursday but that they would resume with higher intensity on Friday.

A number of countries had asked Hezbollah to retaliate in an “acceptable” way or not at all. But he said it would be “impossible” for the group not to respond, he added.

“There is no discussion on this point. The only things lying between us and you are the days, the nights and the battlefield,” Nasrallah added in an address to Israel.

“I’m not saying we reserve the right to respond at the appropriate time and place,” said Nasrallah. “Absolutely not. We will respond. That’s final.”

Nasrallah reiterated that Hezbollah was not behind the Saturday rocket attack on the Druze town of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights in which 12 children were killed.

He said Hezbollah would have admitted if it had made a mistake and killed civilians, and suggested it could have been an Israeli interceptor that hit Majdal Shams.  

Israel, he said, deliberately carried out the rocket attack in order to make up an excuse for the assassination of resistance commanders.

“The motive behind the Majdal al-Shams rocket strike was to pit the Druze community in the occupied Golan Heights against local Shia Muslims. Hezbollah would have acknowledged responsibility had it committed a mistake that led to the death of civilians,” Nasrallah said.

Nasrallah stated that Israeli authorities rushed to pin the blame for the Majdal Shams attack on Hezbollah as soon as they found out that the majority of the fatalities were children.

“We have a great deal of evidence that shows missiles launched by Israeli systems have frequently hit the city of Acre and other areas in the occupied territories,” he said.

The Hezbollah chief denounces the strike in Beirut that killed Shukr as “an act of aggression and not simply an assassination.”

He stressed that Shukr’s assassination will increase the resolve, determination and willpower of Hezbollah.

Nasrallah said Hezbollah is “paying the price for its support for Gaza and the Palestinian people” but the movement is now beyond the support phase, declaring an “open battle on all fronts.”

“We are paying the price of our support for Gaza and the Palestinian cause. This is not something new and we accept such a cost."

The only way to end the war on the Lebanese front is for Israel to stop its “aggression” in Gaza, he added.

The Hezbollah chief paid tribute to Shukr, saying his assassination will not affect the group.

“When one of our commanders becomes a martyr, he is swiftly replaced. We have an excellent new generation of commanders,” he said.

The Hezbollah chief also stated that Palestinian resistance factions will not surrender despite the pressure on all fronts.

He underlined that Israel and its Western sponsors must await a harsh and painful response to the assassinations.

“Our response will certainly come. We are looking for a real and very calculated response. The Axis of Resistance will fight on wisely and courageously,” Nasrallah said.

Nasrallah also emphasized that Iran will not remain idle after the assassination of the head of the political bureau of the Hamas resistance movement, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran.

“Iran considers that its sovereignty, image and honor have been encroached on, because Haniyeh was its guest. I tell the Israelis that they can laugh a little now because they will cry a lot later.

“Do they imagine that they can kill Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and still expect Iran to stand idly by?” the Hezbollah chief said.