Hezbollah deputy secretary-general Sheikh Naim Qassem Hezbollah fighters ready to 'confront' Israeli ground invasion

 Hezbollah's deputy secretary general Sheikh Naim Qassem said on Monday that the party's fighters were ready to confront Israel if it invaded Lebanon by land, stressing that his party would elect a secretary general "at the earliest opportunity" following the assassination of its leader Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli air strike on Friday.

In the first comment from Hezbollah since Nasrallah's death, Qassem said in a recorded speech broadcast on Al-Manar TV: "Despite the attacks and great sacrifices... the Islamic resistance will continue to confront the Israeli enemy in support of Gaza and Palestine, in defence of Lebanon and its people, and in response to the assassinations and killing of civilians.

He added: "We know that the battle may be long and the options are completely open", stressing the readiness to face "any possibility". He said: "We are ready if the Israelis decide to invade by land, because the resistance forces are ready for a ground operation".

Israeli officials have threatened a ground operation in Lebanon to push Hezbollah and its rocket arsenal as far as possible from the Israeli-Lebanese border.

"We will choose a secretary-general of the party as soon as possible and according to the mechanism adopted in the party for the selection," Qassem said, adding, "Be assured that the choice will be simple, clear and we are united."

Qassem, who is currently assuming Nasrallah's duties as his deputy, did not set a date for the election of a new secretary-general, nor did he give any details about Nasrallah's funeral.

The seven-member Shura Council, the party's highest governing body, is responsible for electing the party's secretary general.

Nasrallah was killed on Friday in air strikes that the Israeli army said targeted the party's "central headquarters" in Haret Hreik in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

The Israeli army said on Sunday that 'more than 20 other terrorists of various ranks who were present in the headquarters in Beirut under civilian buildings and were directing Hezbollah's terrorist operations against the state of Israel' had been eliminated.

However, Qassem denied that the air strike had targeted a meeting of 20 senior leaders. He confirmed that Nasrallah was killed along with Ali Karaki, the party's operations commander in southern Lebanon, and the deputy commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's operations, Abbas Nilforoushan, "who was one of the brothers in the Guard who were being monitored in Lebanon", as well as Nasrallah's "Guard commander", Ibrahim Jazini, and a fourth person "monitoring with him" named Samir Harb.