Transcript of Israel striking more Hezbollah targets in Lebanon after killing leader | BBC News

We start with the ongoing tensions in the Middle East, 24 hours since the announcement of the death of the Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah. Fears remained that Nasrallah's killing could spark an all-out regional war. Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, described the attack as an historic turning point. He said Israel had finally settled the score with a man responsible for the murder of countless Israelis. Hassan Nasrallah had led the Iranian Bats Group for over 30 years. Iran's Supreme Leader said his death would be avenged as the country called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council. This is the scene live in Beirut this morning. The Israel Defense Forces say they have carried out dozens of air strikes on Hezbollah targets overnight. President Biden said the Hezbollah leader's death was a measure of justice as he reiterated calls for both sides to accept the terms of a 21-day ceasefire. With the latest, here's Simon Jones.

The Israeli bombardment of Lebanon continues by night and by day.

But the big question is, what will Israel, Hezbolar, and the militant groups back at Iran do next? The Israeli Prime Minister described the killing of Hezbolar's leader on Friday as an historic turning point, but said his work is not done.

The state of Israel eliminated the master murderer, Hassan Nasrallah. We settled accounts with the one responsible for the murder of countless Israelis and many citizens of other countries.

Nasrallah was not another terrorist. He was the terrorist.

Hassan Nasrallah was the beating heart of Hezbollah, playing a key role in turning it into a political and military force. It described him as a martyr and vowed to continue its fight against Israel. Iran has declared five days of public mourning and said the death will not go unavenged. It's calling for a meeting of the UN Security Council. The cabinet in Lebanon met to condemn Israel.

The government is doing everything in its power to confront this destructive, hateful war that Israel is waging against us.

We went to the United Nations looking for solution, and we met with the world leaders, but the enemy went with the intention of treachery and planning more massacres. Officials in Lebanon say almost 800 people have been killed by Israeli strikes since Monday. The US has described Nasrallah's death as a measure of justice for his many victims, but it's calling again for diplomacy.

Mr. President, is it rather than cursing it into Lebanon, inevitable? Time for a ceasefire.

Sirens as a rocket is fired into Northern Israel. On the ground, Israeli troops have been training near the border with Lebanon. The UN says it's deeply concerned at the escalation in the conflict as fears of a wider war grow. Simon Jones, BBC News.

Our Senior International Correspondent, Ola Geerian, was in Beirut in the aftermath of Friday's overnight strikes, and had this report from the scene.

We traveled through Dahlia, the Hezbollah stronghold, now looking anything but. It's been bombed time after time. This is just one of the locations that has been hit. There's smoke still rising here. There's ash in the air, and you can smell the explosives, and I can hear a drone now overhead. The strike here happened overnight, and since then, there's been no let up. In Beirut's Martyrs Square, many slept in the open and remained there today. New homeless from the Middle East's newest war. The governor of Beirut, who has no connection with Hezbollah, fears for his city. What do you think is the Israeli plan here? What are they trying to do?

I don't know, but Israel wants to kill and to kill and to kill.

You cannot predict what Israel can do.

But you fear the worst?

May God protect this country.

It seems a very sad moment for you. It's the saddest moment in my life.

Thank you.

And a moment of grave danger for Lebanon and the Middle East. Israel says its work is not are finished. No one can be sure what will come next.

For analysis on what's happening in the region, let's speak to Fawaz Garja, Professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics. Thank you for joining us on the program, Professor. So 24 hours on from the announcement of the killing of Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah appears to have been quietened. We still have no decisive response from Iran. How How much of a blow has this been for Iran and its proxies in the region?

Well, it's a heavy blow for Hezbollah and the axis of resistance, which is led by Iran. Masrallah was a towering, charismatic figure. He transformed Hezbollah from a small militia in the 1980s and 1990s into one of the most powerful nonstate actors in the world, not just in the Middle East. So he leaves behind a huge vacuum, a big hole. But again, I think we simplify a great deal if we focus on personalities. Hezbollah is thickly institutionalized, is deeply embedded in the social and political fabric of Lebanon. It has multiple leaders. Nasrallah has already been replaced by his second-in-command, Hashem Safi Yiddin, a cousin of Nasrallah and a cleric like Hezbollah. And He shares his worldview in terms of the solidarity with the Palestinians. I don't really expect any major institutional vacuum or leadership vacuum. But the big point which you're really asking is that Hezbollah now is basically trying to put its house in order. It's rattled. It has lost many leaders. Even its command and control is under strain. So Hezbollah has not really responded yet. What Hezbollah is is that this is a long war. This is not a matter of hours or days or weeks.

So Hezbollah is really trying to put its house in order. What Iran can do is could really... I take it and I could be wrong. Iran They can't retaliate directly. But Iran has multiple ways to support Hezbollah by providing leadership, by providing arms, by supplying Hezbollah with fighters, if Hezbollah needs it, from Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Yemen, other places.

With Hezbollah on the backfoot, Israel continues with its attacks on its positions in Lebanon. Israel has set itself the task of disabling Hezbollah militarily so that it can return some 60,000 people back to Northern Israel who'd come under Hezbollah bombardments. Do you think it's likely to achieve those goals?

No. The Americans and the Brits and the French have told Israel so. They have made it very clear if Israel's strategic goal is to return its displaced people to their homes on the Lebanese-Israeli front, what Israel is doing will produce the opposite results. In fact, there will be more Israeli citizens displaced as a result of this particular long war. Israel is gambling that somehow by killing to gain top leaders like Nasrallah and other military leaders, they could really paralyze the organization. They could really force Hezbollah to surrender. My very humble advice is that they are delusional. Hezbollah's ideology is steeped in victimhood, in persecution, in martyrdom. They have between 50 and 100,000 skilled and advanced fighters. Also, I think Israel will realize that they could not really achieve their goals by just bombing Lebanon. Even the Americans could not do it in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Professor Gaj, I'm sorry to cut you off there. We have to leave it there. But that's Professor Fawaz Gaj from the LSC. Thank you for joining us. And joining me now is our correspondent, John Dunnison, who's in Jerusalem, and our Middle East correspondent, Hugo Bershega, who's in Beirut. Just to start off with you, John, just talk us through we're seeing at the moment from the Israeli military and its continued attacks on Hezbollah?

Well, it's not stopping. There were more air strikes from the Israeli military in Lebanon overnight. And certainly, listening to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last night, he has no intention of stopping. He wants to carry on. I think the Israelis feel that they have the boot on the throat of Hezbollah at the moment, and they're going to push forward. As you're My guest was saying, though, there, they are not going to be able to fully dismantle and dispower Hezbollah without some ground offensive in Lebanon. And that comes with far greater risks to Israeli soldiers. I think the ball, though, is very much in the court now of Hezbollah and also Iran. Hezbollah, as your guest was saying, still has a huge arsenal of weapons and many fighters. It has not used those more sophisticated weapons so far in this conflict. Is it capable now of doing so? And will it do so? And will Iran get directly involved? It has resisted doing so so far, but it has vowed vengeance for the death of Hassan Nasserallah. What form will that vengeance take?

And in the meantime, John, we're seeing reporting in the American press as well as the Israeli media that according to US officials, Israel may have began some small scale border movements in to Lebanon. What can we read into these reports?

Well, that's not something that the BBC has been able to stand up at the moment, but just reading those reports, it sounds like pretty small intelligence led undercover operatives going into Lebanon, which I think has probably been happening for some time. This isn't the ground offensive that many people are expecting. We don't know if and when that is going to happen. But as I say, if they If we really want to fully dismantle and defeat Hezbollah, most people, most analysts feel it will require some ground offensive eventually.

John, thank you. Let's bring in Hugo Bashega, who's in Beirut for us. Hugo, we focus a lot on the attacks on Hezbollah's infrastructure. But in the midst of this, there is a civilian fallout and officials in Lebanon saying that hundreds of thousands have been displaced in recent days. Exactly.

And this is having a huge impact across the country because we're seeing that hundreds of thousands have been displaced, shelters across the country, struggling to cope with the high number of displaced residents coming from the south, also from the Eastern Becaa Valley. These are two Hezbollah strongholds that have been heavily hit by the Israeli military in the last two weeks. And Also, hundreds of people who have been killed, thousands of people who've been injured as a result of those attacks, and hospitals as well struggling to cope with the sheer number of casualties from these Israeli air strikes. The authorities are warning that if this Israeli campaign against Hezbollah continues, and all the indications suggest that this is going to continue, they're going to struggle to cope with the rising demand in terms of treating casualties and also to housing displaced residents. And last night, the Lebanese Prime Minister, Najib Mikhatti, gave a warning. He said his country was facing a dangerous moment. So obviously, here in Lebanon today, there is a tense, very anxious wait to see what Hezbollah is going to do. This is not only a militia, obviously considered a terrorist organization by the UK, by the US, and many in the West.

But this is more than just a militia here in Lebanon. This is a political party with representation in Parliament. Hezbollah is part of the government. It is also a huge social organization with significant support here in the country. So extremely influential, very powerful, and a lot of people here today waiting to see how Hezbollah is going to respond.

Hugo, how are people viewing these attacks on Hezbollah and this weakened position? Because it does have strong support within the country, but there are also a lot of people who are opposed to the organization. Exactly.

And we've been talking about this for almost a year, the concern from many in this country that Hezbollah, with these attacks on Israel, was dragging Lebanon into a conflict that it didn't decide to fight. There was against the country's interest. Remember, Lebanon has been in a state of permanent crisis for almost 10 years, a huge economic crisis, political paralysis as well, electricity crisis, the Syrian refugee crisis as well. So this is a country that has been under a lot of pressure for quite some time. And now the possibility of a wider conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, a conflict that could be devastating for parts of Lebanon, as we've seen in the last few days. I think there is a sense of this country coming together to help those people who've been affected by what is happening. I think people are putting their political differences aside. I think still early days We don't know what is going to happen. The killing of Hassan Nasrallah shocked this country yesterday after the news was confirmed by Hezbollah. Again, a highly influential figure, somebody who was leading Hezbollah for more than three decades. But I think among some critiques of Hezbollah and opponents of Hezbollah, these people are not going to be unhappy to see a weakened Hezbollah, a diminished Hezbollah.

Many of those critiques blame Hezbollah for being in part responsible for some of the problems that Lebanon is facing today. But still, I think early days, I think the country is still trying to understand what is happening. Obviously, there's a lot of uncertainty about what's going to happen next.

Hugo, thank you. That's our Middle East correspondence, Hugo Bershega there in Beirut. We've also been speaking to John Dunnison in Jerusalem.