DOHA, Sept 29: Middle East nations and Hezbollah's allies in the Tehran-aligned "Axis of Resistance" reacted on Saturday to the killing of the Lebanese group's leader Hassan Nasrallah in Israeli strikes on Beirut.
Hezbollah confirmed the death of Nasrallah, who headed the movement for more than three decades, after military officials in Israel announced he was killed in bombardment late Friday in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Hezbollah: Hezbollah confirmed in a statement that Nasrallah had been killed, saying he had "joined his great, immortal martyr comrades whom he led for about 30 years".
The group said he was killed with other members "following the treacherous Zionist strike on the southern suburbs" of the Lebanese capital, a Hezbollah bastion.
Israel: The Israeli military described the Hezbollah chief as one of Israel's "greatest enemies of all time".
Military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said, "His elimination makes the world a safer place."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had "settled the score with the one responsible for the murder of countless Israelis and many citizens of other countries".
Foreign Minister Israel Katz said Nasrallah "deserved" to die.
"The elimination of arch-terrorist Nasrallah is one of the most justified counter-terrorism actions Israel has ever taken," Katz said in a post on social media platform X.
Iran: Iran, which arms and finances Hezbollah, said the direction Nasrallah set for the Lebanese group, which for nearly a year had engaged in cross-border fire with Israeli forces, would be maintained.
"The glorious path of the leader of the resistance, Hassan Nasrallah, will continue, and his sacred goal will be realised in the liberation of Quds (Jerusalem), God willing," foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said, referring to support for the Palestinian cause.
Hezbollah has said its clashes with Israeli forces since the Gaza war began in October were in support of Palestinian ally Hamas.
Iran's First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref issued a warning to Israel's leaders "that the unjust bloodshed... will bring about their destruction," according to news agency ISNA.
Hamas: Palestinian militant group Hamas, which has been fighting Israel in the besieged Gaza Strip, condemned Nasrallah's assassination "in the strongest terms" and criticised the strikes on Beirut as "barbaric Zionist aggression and targeting of residential buildings".
"We consider it a cowardly terrorist act," the group said in a statement that offered "condolences and solidarity with the brothers in Hezbollah and the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon".
Hamas's deputy leader, Qatar-based Khalil al-Hayya, said in a video statement that Nasrallah's killing would trigger "a new stage of sacred revenge for all the blood that has been shed".
Palestinian Authority: Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, offered his "deep condolences" to Lebanon for the deaths of Nasrallah and civilians in "the brutal Israeli aggression", according to a statement from his office.
Yemen's Huthis: Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels said Nasrallah's killing would strengthen their determination to confront their Israeli foes.
Nasrallah's "martyrdom... will increase the flame of sacrifice, the heat of enthusiasm, the strength of resolve," the Huthi leadership council said in a statement, vowing to achieve "victory and the demise of the Israeli enemy".
In a televised address, rebel leader Abdul Malik al-Huthi said Nasrallah's death "will not be in vain".
Iraq: Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani condemned a "crime that shows the Zionist entity has crossed all the red lines".
In a statement, he called the Israeli strikes on south Beirut a "shameful attack" and described Nasrallah as "a martyr on the path of the righteous".
Syria: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's Tehran-aligned government called Nasrallah's killing an act of "despicable aggression" by Israel.
A Syrian foreign ministry statement carried by state news agency SANA said the assassination confirms Israel's "barbarism and wanton disregard for all international standards and laws".
Bahrain opposition: Bahrain's outlawed Shiite Muslim opposition movement Al-Wefaq said Nasrallah would serve as "an eternal symbol of resistance and support for the oppressed". —AFP
