“You and your friends will pay a very heavy price for the increase in shootings against Israeli citizens as they sit down to celebrate Seder night,” Katz told Qasim in a video message.
Defense Secretary Israel Katz issued a stern warning to Hezbollah leader Naeem Qasim on Thursday, saying he would not live to see the “very heavy price” paid for attacks on Israel during Passover and would eventually “go to hell” along with other eliminated Iranian proxy leaders.
Katz’s comments came in a video message Thursday following a situation assessment with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and other senior military officials at the IDF command center “The Pit” beneath the Kira military compound.
“I have a clear message for Naim Qasim, secretary-general of the terrorist organization Hezbollah: You and your friends will pay a very heavy price for the shootings that occurred as Israeli citizens sat down to celebrate Seder night,” Katz said.
This comes after the Israel Defense Forces warned on Wednesday that Iran and Hezbollah could launch coordinated attacks on Israel as the holidays begin that evening. Iran then launched some 10 ballistic missiles minutes before the start of Passover, one of the largest attacks by the Islamic Republic in weeks.
“You won’t be able to see [the heavy price]Because you will go to hell with Nasrallah, Khamenei, Sinwar and all the members of the axis of evil who were eliminated,” Katz said, adding, “But the Hezbollah terrorist organization you now lead and its supporters in Lebanon will pay the heaviest price. “
Defense Minister Israel Katz at Jerusalem City Hall on December 15, 2025. (Image source: CHAIM GOLDBERG/FLASH90)
Kazza added that these attacks would not deter Israel and that the country would never return to the security situation it had before the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7, 2023, which Hezbollah joined the next day.
“Your supporters in Iran have been overwhelmed and are of no use to you in the face of the might of the IDF and the courage and commitment of our soldiers to bring security to the north,” Katz wrote to Qasim. “We will clear out Hezbollah and its supporters in southern Lebanon, the IDF will maintain security control over the entire Litani region, and we will uproot Hezbollah’s ‘snake fangs’ throughout Lebanon.”
Katz initially announced last week that Israel would occupy southern Lebanon up to the Litani River. The minister said the move was to create a “defensive buffer zone” against Hezbollah.
Khamenei expresses support for Hezbollah leader without aid pledge
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei announced in a message to Hezbollah leaders on Wednesday that he was praying for Qasim’s success and “hoped” that he would be able to “thwart the plots of the Zionist enemies.”
However, beyond ideological support, Khamenei’s message did not explicitly mention that the Islamic Republic would provide further material assistance to Hezbollah.
