Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said his group and Iran were "obliged to respond" to Israel regardless of the consequences after the country assassinated its military commander Fuad Shukr and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh last week.
Israel's reckless twin assassinations have sent Middle East tensions skyrocketing, amid fears of a regional conflict and all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah, which have been trading daily cross-border fire since Oct. 7.
Iran "finds itself obliged to respond, and the enemy is waiting in a great state of dread," Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised address, adding his group was also "obliged to respond."
Hezbollah will retaliate "alone or in the context of a unified response from all the axis" of Iran-backed groups in the region, "whatever the consequences," he added.
Hezbollah could "within half an hour or an hour" destroy chemical, technology, and food factories in northern Israel, which it took about 34 years to build, he said.
"We will respond, but with deliberation and prudence," the Hezbollah chief said. "Israel's waiting for our response is part of the punishment."
An Israeli air strike on Beirut's southern suburbs killed Hezbollah's top military commander Shukr last Tuesday.
Early Wednesday, Hamas's political chief Haniyeh was assassinated in an attack in Tehran blamed on Israel.
"Our response is coming," Nasrallah said in an address to mark a week since Shukr's killing, adding it would be "strong and effective."
"Israel's waiting for a week is part of the punishment, part of the response, part of the battle," he said, adding: "It is Israel who chose escalation... and who attacked Iran."
