Israeli soldiers killed after Hamas official assassinated in Beirut: Hezbollah

Iran-backed Hezbollah said Tuesday that an apparent Israeli attack that killed Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri would not go unpunished before announcing that it had killed Israeli soldiers on the border.

Hezbollah said the “dangerous” strike was an attack on Lebanon and its sovereignty.

The group said the “crime would never pass without a response and punishment.”

“Our resistance… has its hand on the trigger and… our [fighters] are on the highest levels of readiness and preparedness,” the group said in a statement.

Later Tuesday, Hezbollah said it had targeted, killed and injured Israeli soldiers on the border with Lebanon.

Al-Arouri met with Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah in the aftermath of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel to discuss the next steps Iran-backed militants should take at this “sensitive stage.”

Nasrallah was previously scheduled to speak on Wednesday to mark the anniversary of the killing of the head of Iran’s Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes, the deputy commander of Iran-backed militias in Iraq known as the Popular Mobilization Forces.

In a previous televised appearance, Nasrallah warned that the targeting of any Lebanese or foreigners inside Lebanon would draw a “strong reaction” and that it would not be tolerated.