The head of Lebanon's Hezbollah said on Saturday that his armed group had used new types of weapons and struck new targets in Israel in recent days, and pledged that the front in the south against its sworn enemy would remain active.
It was Hassan Nasrallah's second speech since the war between Israel and Hamas began in October. In his first address earlier this month he said there was a possibility of fighting on the Lebanese front turning into a full-fledged war.
Nasrallah said on Saturday there had been "an upgrade" in Hezbollah's operations along its front with Israel. "There has been a quantitative improvement in the number of operations, the size and the number of targets, as well as an increase in the type of weapons," he said in a televised address.
He said Hezbollah had used a missile known as the Burkan, describing its explosives payload as between 300 to 500 kilograms, and confirmed the group had used weaponized drones for the first time.
Nasrallah said the group had also struck the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona for the first time in retaliation for the killing of three girls and their grandmother earlier this month.
"This front will remain active," he pledged.
Hezbollah has been exchanging fire with Israeli forces at the Lebanese-Israeli frontier since Oct. 8, with at least 70 of its fighters killed. Several civilians have also been killed.
But the tit-for-tat shelling has been largely restricted to the border and Hezbollah has mostly struck military targets.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned Hezbollah on Saturday not to escalate fighting along the border.
"Hezbollah is dragging Lebanon into a war that might happen," Gallant told troops in a video aired by Israeli television channels. "It is making mistakes and ... those who will pay the price are first and foremost Lebanon's citizens. What we are doing in Gaza we can do in Beirut."
