Lebanon: Nasrallah Vows to Rebuild Southern Towns Destroyed by Israel

Members of Imam al-Mahdi scouts carry a picture of Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, during a religious procession to mark Ashura in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon July 17, 2024. REUTERS/Aziz Taher
Members of Imam al-Mahdi scouts carry a picture of Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, during a religious procession to mark Ashura in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon July 17, 2024. REUTERS/Aziz Taher
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Lebanon: Nasrallah Vows to Rebuild Southern Towns Destroyed by Israel

Members of Imam al-Mahdi scouts carry a picture of Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, during a religious procession to mark Ashura in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon July 17, 2024. REUTERS/Aziz Taher
Members of Imam al-Mahdi scouts carry a picture of Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, during a religious procession to mark Ashura in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon July 17, 2024. REUTERS/Aziz Taher

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah made new promises on Wednesday to his supporters vowing to rebuild the southern towns destroyed by the border war ongoing since October 8 with Israel.
Nasrallah has made a similar pledge after the devastating war with Israel in 2006 that left swaths of southern Lebanon and the Beirut southern suburbs destroyed. Several Arab nations helped Lebanon rebuild these areas, including Saudi Arabia that provided aid worth half a billion dollars.
Many have criticized Hezbollah’s involvement in its war with Israel, which the party says has engaged in to support Gaza.
On Wednesday, in a speech marking the day of Ashura, Nasrallah criticized the opposition parties in Lebanon.
“To those scaring us off, the Israelis, the Americans, the Westerns and some inside Lebanon, we tell them that we are not scared of war. The most that war can bring about is death, and we are not scared of martyrdom”, said Nasrallah.
Moreover, Nasrallah denied having a ready-made agreement with Israel concerning the situation in south Lebanon. He said the front on the border will only be determined based on the outcomes of the battle.
“Ten months since the fighting began, Israel seems incapable of achieving its goals. It is covering its feebleness by committing the worst of crimes, killing children and women”, he said.
He stressed that the Lebanese and Gaza fronts will be linked until the Israeli war in the Palestinian territory stops.
He assured that the party will hit new Israeli targets if Israel keeps targeting civilians in Lebanon.

“Our front will not stop as long as the aggression continues in Gaza. Threats of war will not scare us off. The enemy’s targeting of civilians in Lebanon will only make the Resistance launch more rockets at new (Israeli) settlements that have never been targeted before”, he said.
The Hezbollah chief renewed vows to rebuild the border area in Lebanon saying, “we will rebuild our homes and villages more beautiful than before”.
Israel and Hezbollah have been trading fire since Hezbollah announced a "support front" with Palestinians shortly after its ally Hamas attacked southern Israeli border communities on Oct. 7, triggering Israel's military offensive in Gaza.
The fighting in Lebanon has killed more than 100 civilians and more than 300 Hezbollah fighters, according to a Reuters tally, and led to levels of destruction in Lebanese border towns and villages not seen since the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war.



Israeli Strikes on Gaza Kill at Least 27 Palestinians

Palestinian girls look at the rubble of the Abou Mahadi family destroyed in Israeli strikes in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on APril 28, 2025. (Photo by BASHAR TALEB / AFP)
Palestinian girls look at the rubble of the Abou Mahadi family destroyed in Israeli strikes in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on APril 28, 2025. (Photo by BASHAR TALEB / AFP)
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Israeli Strikes on Gaza Kill at Least 27 Palestinians

Palestinian girls look at the rubble of the Abou Mahadi family destroyed in Israeli strikes in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on APril 28, 2025. (Photo by BASHAR TALEB / AFP)
Palestinian girls look at the rubble of the Abou Mahadi family destroyed in Israeli strikes in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on APril 28, 2025. (Photo by BASHAR TALEB / AFP)

Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip overnight into Monday killed at least 27 Palestinians, according to local health officials. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

Israel has carried out daily strikes on Gaza since ending its ceasefire with Hamas last month. It has cut off the territory's 2 million Palestinians from all imports, including food and medicine, since the beginning of March in what it says is an attempt to pressure the militant group to release hostages.

The daily bombardment and widespread hunger is taking a heavy toll on Gaza's most vulnerable residents, including pregnant women and children. The United Nations' highest court began holding hearings on Monday into Israel's obligation to facilitate humanitarian aid to the territories it occupies.

Israel says the International Court of Justice is biased against it. It says enough aid entered during the ceasefire to sustain the population and accuses Hamas of siphoning it off.

Humanitarian workers say supplies are running desperately low, with most people eating one meal or less a day. They say the UN closely monitors aid distribution and deny any significant diversion.

Strikes hit three homes

An airstrike hit a home in Beit Lahiya, killing 10 people, including a Palestinian prisoner, Abdel-Fattah Abu Mahadi, who had been released as part of the ceasefire. His wife, two of their children and a grandchild were also killed, according to the Indonesian Hospital, which received the bodies.

Another strike hit a home in Gaza City, killing seven people, including two women, according to the Gaza Health Ministry's emergency service. Two other people were wounded.

Late Sunday, a strike hit a home in the southern city of Khan Younis, killing at least 10 people, including five siblings as young as 4 years old, according to the Health Ministry. Two other children were killed along with their parents, according to Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies.

Israel says it makes every effort to avoid harming civilians and blames Hamas for their deaths because the militants operate in densely populated areas. Palestinians say nowhere in blockaded Gaza is safe.

No end in sight to the 18-month-old war

The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. Hamas is still holding 59 hostages, 24 of whom are believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed over 52,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were fighters or civilians. Israel's bombardment and ground operations have destroyed vast areas of Gaza and left most of its population homeless.

The Health Ministry says 2,151 people, including 732 children, have been killed since Israel shattered the truce on March 18.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue the offensive until all the hostages are returned and Hamas is either destroyed or agrees to disarm and leave the territory. He says Israel will then implement US President Donald Trump's proposal to resettle much of Gaza's population in other countries through what the Israeli leader refers to as "voluntary emigration."

Palestinians say the plan would amount to forcible expulsion from their homeland after Israel's offensive left much of Gaza uninhabitable. Human rights experts say it would likely violate international law.

Hamas has said it will only release the remaining hostages in return for more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, as called for in the ceasefire that Israel ended.