Hezbollah says it has 'no choice' but to defend itself after deadly Israeli strikes

Hezbollah said on Saturday that the group “no longer has any option” but to defend itself after the deadliest Israeli strikes in weeks hit eastern Lebanon on Friday.

The strikes killed at least 10 people, including a Hezbollah military official, in the Bekaa Valley region, in another violation of the ceasefire signed in November 2024. Twenty-four people, including three children, were wounded.

In a speech broadcast on Hezbollah’s television channel Al-Manar, the deputy chairman of Hezbollah’s political council, Mahmoud Qamati, described the attacks as “a new massacre and a new aggression”.

“What option do we have left to defend ourselves and our country? What option do we have other than resistance?” he said.

The reaction came amid reports by Al Arabiya and Al Hadath that Hezbollah has increased the frequency of its meetings as it plans its response to a possible war between Israel’s ally, the United States, and Iran.

The sources said Iranian commanders from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had assumed administrative control from the Lebanese leadership.

Some Iranian commanders have been present in Lebanon for months, the sources said, with others arriving more recently as tensions between the United States and Iran have escalated.

Several of the most recent discussions focused on Hezbollah’s missile unit in the Bekaa Valley, which was struck by Israel on Friday, the sources said.

The commanders are now overseeing efforts to restore Hezbollah’s operational strength and preparing for a broader confrontation with Israel, as they see renewed fighting as inevitable.

Pentagon moves troops out of Middle East bases, report says

Hundreds of US troops, meanwhile, have been moved from military bases in Qatar and Bahrain, according to The New York Times, citing Pentagon officials.

The newspaper said recent deployments of US warships, fighter jets, bombers, drones, surveillance aircraft and air-defence systems to the Middle East indicate the Pentagon is preparing for the possibility of a war that could last longer than last year’s 12-day war.

“This looks like positioning for a much longer conflict,” said Katherine Thompson of the Cato Institute, who was a senior policy official at the defence department during the first year of the Trump administration.

The Pentagon appears to be “anticipating an Iranian response that could pose a significant risk to American bases in the region,” she said.

She added that the Pentagon is concerned about the US’s ability to sustain a prolonged defence of its forces in the region while supporting Israel.

Another American military official said two aircraft carriers remain stationed at a distance from Iran to protect US bases.