Hezbollah leader Nasrallah will give scheduled speech amid fallout from deadly strike on senior Hamas leader

Hezbollah’s leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is set to deliver his third speech since Oct 7th.

The speech comes a day after a senior Hamas leader Saleh Al-Arouri was killed in a strike in Beirut, but had been previously scheduled to commemorate the anniversary of the death of Iranian Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Revolutionary Guards who died following a US air strike in 2020.

Some context: Hezbollah is an Iran-backed Islamist movement with one of the most powerful paramilitary forces in the Middle East. The group, which has its main base on the Israel-Lebanon border, could become a wildcard player in the Hamas-Israel war, and spark a wider regional conflict.

Prior to October 7, Nasrallah had not spoken publicly in person since 2006, when a month-long war erupted between Lebanon and Israel.

In his first public speech since 2006, Nasrallah called for a ceasefire and praised Hamas’ October 7 attacks on Israel, adding that they were fully planned and executed by Hamas. His speech came amid escalating skirmishes between his powerful, Iran-backed armed group and Israel, sparking concern of a potential broader regional war.

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