Lebanon-based Hezbollah released an audio recording of its former leader Hassan Nasrallah on Sunday, weeks after he was killed in an Israeli airstrike. In the recording, Nasrallah urged his followers to “defend the nation,” calling on them to protect their people, values, and land. The message was recorded during one of Nasrallah’s speeches to Hezbollah fighters during a military exercise.
“We count on you… to defend your people, your families, your nation, your values and your dignity, and to defend this holy and blessed land and this honourable people,” said Nasrallah in the audio.
Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike last month, which targeted Hezbollah’s underground headquarters beneath a residential building in Dahiyeh, Beirut. The attack destroyed several high-rise buildings and claimed the lives of multiple senior Hezbollah figures, including Ali Karaki, commander of Hezbollah’s Southern Front. Visuals released by the Israeli Air Force showed the buildings collapsing into rubble within seconds.
The Lebanese Health Ministry reported that six people were killed and 91 others injured in the September airstrikes, which leveled six apartment buildings. Nasrallah, who had been accused of orchestrating deadly attacks on Jewish targets, had long been a key target for Israel. His assassination is considered one of the most significant and consequential of Israel’s targeted killings in recent years, likely escalating the already tense situation in the Middle East.
In a related development, Israel confirmed that four of its soldiers were killed, and more than 60 people were injured in a Hezbollah drone attack on a military base in central-northern Israel on Sunday. This attack is the deadliest by Hezbollah since Israel began its ground invasion of Lebanon two weeks ago. Hezbollah claimed responsibility, calling the strike retaliation for Israeli air raids on Beirut, which killed 22 people on Thursday.