Threatening Hezbollah Leader Naim Qassem, Israeli Defense Minister: You Will Be Sent to the Bottom of Hell

Minister of Defense Katz during a visit to Israeli forces. (Ariel Hermoni/Ministry of Defense)

JAKARTA - Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Thursday warned Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem that he would pay a "very high price" for increased attacks during the ongoing Easter celebrations.

"I have a clear message for Naim Qassem. You and your colleagues will pay a very high price for the increase in rocket attacks directed at Israeli citizens as they gather to celebrate Passover," Defense Minister Katz said in a video statement, launching Al Arabiya from AFP (2/4).

"You will be sent to the bottom of hell with (Hassan) Nasrallah, (Ayatollah Ali) Khamenei, (Yahya) Sinwar, and other evil figures who have fallen," he said, referring to former leaders of Hezbollah, Iran, and the Palestinian movement Hamas, who have been killed by Israel over the past two and a half years.

"The terrorist organization Hezbollah, which you now lead, and its supporters in Lebanon, will bear the full and heavy consequences," Katz added.

The Israeli defense minister's warning followed Hezbollah's claim that they had carried out a series of rocket attacks in northern Israel on Wednesday night and Thursday morning, when Israeli Jews began celebrating the Passover holiday.

Defense Minister Katz also reiterated that Israeli forces "will cleanse Hezbollah and its supporters from southern Lebanon, maintain Israel's security control over the entire Litani region, and cripple Hezbollah's military capabilities throughout Lebanon."

Lebanon was dragged into the Middle East war in early March when Tehran-backed Hezbollah launched rockets towards Israel in retaliation for an attack that killed Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on February 28.

Israel has responded with massive strikes across Lebanon and ground assaults.

Meanwhile, the State of the Mullahs retaliated with drone strikes and missiles targeting Israel, along with Jordan, Iraq, and Gulf countries hosting US military assets, causing casualties and infrastructure damage and disrupting global markets and flights, including tight control of the vital Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of the world's crude oil and liquefied natural gas pass.