Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday warned that those who attack the Jewish State will pay a “very high price” after confirming that Israel killed top Hezbollah and Hamas commanders in recent strikes.
Netanyahu held an in-depth assessment at Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Home Front Command with generals and senior officers following the confirmed deaths of Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr and Hamas commander Muhammad Deif.
“Israel is in a state of very high readiness for any scenario – on both defense and offense,” Netanyahu said. “We will exact a very high price for any act of aggression against us from any quarter whatsoever.”
Shukr, who was also known as Hajj Mohsin, was behind a drone strike that killed 12 children and teens at a soccer field in the Golan Heights over the weekend. He served as a senior adviser to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah at the time he was killed in an IDF strike on Tuesday in southern Beirut.
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According to the IDF, Deif initiated, planned and executed the October 7th Hamas terror attacks against Israel along with Yahya Sinwar, the top Hamas leader in Gaza. Hamas terrorists killed 1,200 people in southern Israel and abducted 251 hostages into the Gaza Strip. Sinwar is believed to remain in hiding in Gaza.
Israel confirmed on Thursday that Deif was killed in an IDF strike in Gaza on July 13.
Speaking on the death of Deif, Netanyahu said, “His elimination underscores a simple principle which we have set: Whoever harms us, we will harm them.”
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Tensions in the Middle East were further heightened this week after Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran. Israel has not come out publicly to claim responsibility for the killing, but Iran and Hamas are accusing the Jewish state of being behind it.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has said it is “Iran’s duty to avenge Haniyeh’s blood, because he was martyred on our soil.”
Fox News’s Yonat Friling, Scott McDonald, Chris Pandolfo and Greg Norman contributed to this report.