Nasrallah Says Hezbollah Response To Israel Is "Coming"

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has declared in a video address that the militant group's response to Israel's alleged killing of a top Hezbollah commander in Beirut last week "is coming," adding that it will happen "alone or with the Axis," referring to the network of Iranian proxies in the region, including the Houthis in Yemen, Hamas in Gaza, and various groups in Syria and Iraq.

• Nasrallah: "Perhaps we will respond alone and perhaps we will respond together with the entire resistance axis, a comprehensive response. But our response will come and be effective and strong... Regardless of any consequences, the resistance cannot let the assassination go unpunished..."
• Reuters notes Nasrallah said: "No one in Lebanon or outside can ask us to deal with Israeli attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs as any ordinary attack."
• Tzvi Joffre at JPost writes: "Nasrallah seems to have confirmed the Houthis will take part in the response to [Hamas leader killed in Tehran] Haniyeh and [Hezbollah leader killed in Beirut] Shukr, although that doesn't necessarily mean it'll all be simultaneous."
• Nasrallah's speeches have been closely watched for signs that the group is prepared to open a second front with Israel, beyond the regular border skirmishes that have taken place concurrent to the war in Gaza. So far, Hezbollah, considered a significantly more sophisticated fighting force than Hamas, has refrained from entering the conflict, but the risk of a wider war now appears high.
• US officials have moved additional military assets to the region and warned that a substantial joint Hezbollah-Iranian strike could be imminent. Washington has also communicated to Tehran via intermediaries that a retaliation would "not be in their interests".