Katz to Kassem: You will not live to see Israel's retaliation

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz issued a stark and personal threat to Hezbollah leader Naïm Kassem on Thursday, after dozens of rockets were fired at northern Israel at the start of the Jewish Passover holiday.

"I have a clear message for Naïm Kassem: you and your associates will pay a very heavy price for intensifying attacks targeting Israeli civilians as they sat down to celebrate the Seder," Katz declared following a security assessment with senior military officials. The Seder is the traditional meal that opens the Passover commemoration, marking the biblical exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt.

The warning did not stop there. Katz went further, suggesting Kassem would not survive long enough to witness Israel's response. 

"You will not live to see the retaliation, because you will be plunged into the depths of hell alongside Hassan Nasrallah, Ali Khamenei and Yahya Sinwar," he added, invoking three figures whose eliminations Israel considers among its most significant recent operations: Nasrallah, Kassem's predecessor as Hezbollah chief, killed on September 27, 2024; Khamenei, Iran's former Supreme Leader, killed in Israeli strikes on Tehran on February 28, 2026; and Sinwar, the former military chief of Hamas, eliminated in Gaza on October 16, 2024.

The threats came as Hezbollah claimed responsibility for 16 separate attacks on northern Israel since midnight, while the Israeli military reported at least 50 rockets had targeted the north on Wednesday alone. Hezbollah confirmed it had conducted dozens of similar strikes throughout the day.

The timing, deliberately targeting Israeli families during one of Judaism's most sacred holidays,  drew particular condemnation from Israeli officials, who viewed the attacks as a calculated provocation designed to maximise psychological impact alongside physical damage.