Hezbollah leader: Iran could retaliate for Israeli strikes

BEIRUT (AP) — The leader of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group has warned that if Israel continues to target Iran’s presence in the region, Tehran could eventually retaliate by striking deep inside Israel. Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s warning on Friday came in a speech during a ceremony in Beirut marking “Quds Day,” or Jerusalem Day, a traditional show of support for the Palestinians. Israel has staged hundreds of strikes over the years on targets in Syria — where Iran, like Hezbollah, supports President Bashar Assad’s forces — but rarely knowledges or discusses such operations. It has acknowledged targeting bases of Iran-allied militias, such as Hezbollah, in Syria. Israel says its attacks are against Iranian entrenchment in neighboring Syria.