Safieddine warns Israel 'Hezbollah ready to use new weapons'

Head of Hezbollah's executive council, Sayyed Hashem Safieddine, warned Israel on Friday that Hezbollah is ready to use new weapons in the battlefield.

Hezbollah has regularly fired missiles across the border with Israel over the past seven months, but has on Thursday launched its first successful missile airstrike from within Israeli airspace, using a drone that fired two missiles. The attack wounded three soldiers, one of them seriously, according to the Israeli military.

The group has stepped up its attacks on Israel in recent weeks, particularly since the Israeli incursion into the southern city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip. It has struck deeper inside Israel and introduced new and more advanced weaponry.

"The resistance on the southern border has proven that it has many options in the battlefield," Safieddine said.

Also this week, Hezbollah launched three anti-tank guided missiles at an Israeli military post that controlled a surveillance balloon flying over the border. They released camera footage afterward to show they had hit their mark. Hours later, the Israeli military confirmed that the spy balloon had been shot down over Lebanon.

"We have multiple options that are guaranteed to succeed and to exhaust the enemy," Safieddine said. "If the enemy wants to continue the fight, we are ready to use new weapons," he added.

Hezbollah's use of more advanced weaponry, including drones capable of firing missiles, explosive drones and the small type of guided missile known as Almas, or Diamond, that was used to attack the base controlling the balloon has raised alarms within the Israeli military.

"This is a time of major changes," Safieddine said. "What is happening in Gaza, on the (southern) border, and in the region undoubtedly carries great implications."

"It shows the fragility and apparent confusion of the Israeli enemy," he added.