Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah vowed on August 6 to respond "strongly and effectively" to the assassination of its military commander by Israel last week, saying he would act alone or with regional allies.

Hezbollah will wait for the right moment to respond, Nasrallah said, without indicating what form or timing that response might take. The Hezbollah leader said international efforts to persuade the group not to retaliate were futile.

“Whatever the consequences, the resistance will not let the Israeli attacks go unpunished,” Nasrallah said in a televised speech marking a week since the assassination of Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut. “Our response… will be strong, effective and impactful.”

Hezbollah members and supporters gathered to watch the speech in a southern suburb of the Lebanese capital Beirut.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is seen during a televised speech in Lebanon, May 2024. Photo: Getty Images

Just before the Hezbollah leader's speech began, Lebanese media reported a series of sonic booms, likely caused by Israeli warplanes swooping low over the capital Beirut, rattling windows across the city and sending people ducking for cover.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the operation. Fears of a full-scale war in the Middle East have been growing in recent days following Hezbollah’s announcement of retaliation for Shukr’s killing and Iran’s anger over the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

The two assassinations took place last week, less than a day apart, with Israel claiming responsibility for the one in Beirut and remaining silent about the one in Tehran.

The airstrike that killed Shukr on July 30 was the second time Israel has attacked Beirut's southern suburbs in 10 months of fighting between Hezbollah and Israel that has run parallel to the war in Gaza between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement.

Early on August 6, Hezbollah said it launched a swarm of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs/drones) that attacked two military sites near Acre in northern Israel and struck an Israeli military vehicle at another location.

The Israeli military said several hostile drones were detected flying over Lebanon and one was intercepted. Israeli health officials said seven people were evacuated to hospital, south of the coastal city of Nahariya, one in critical condition.

Sirens were sounded around the city of Acre (also known as Akko), but it turned out to be a false alarm, the Israeli military said in a statement. It also said its air force had struck two Hezbollah facilities in southern Lebanon.

Earlier in the day, four Hezbollah fighters were killed in an attack on a house in the Lebanese town of Mayfadoun, nearly 30 km (19 miles) north of the border, medics and a security source said.

Yahya Sinwar is seen during a march in Gaza, April 2023. Photo: China Daily

On the Hamas side, on August 6, the group selected a new political leader to replace Mr. Haniyeh, who was killed in an assassination attempt in Tehran last week.

"We announce the selection of leader Yahya Sinwar as head of the movement's political department, succeeding leader Ismail Haniyeh," Hamas said in a statement.

Born in Khan Younis in 1962, Mr Sinwar is often described as one of Hamas's most hardline senior officials. He has led the group in the Gaza Strip since 2017.

Mr Sinwar spent more than 20 years in Israeli prisons and was released in a prisoner swap with Israel in 2011. Israel considers him one of the main planners of the attack on Israel on October 7 last year.

Minh Duc (According to Asharq Al-Awsat, Xinhua)