You won’t live to see Israel’s full response to Passover attacks
“You and your friends will pay a heavy price for the increased fire directed at Israeli citizens sitting at the table to celebrate Seder Night,” Katz said in his video message to Kasim.
Defense Minister Israel Katz issued a stern warning to Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem on Thursday, saying he will not live to see the “very heavy price” of attacks on Israel during Passover and will be “in the depths of 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 “pit,” the IDF’s command center beneath the Kiyra military compound.
Katz said, “I have a clear message to Naim Kasim, Secretary General of the Hezbollah terrorist organization: You and your friends will pay a heavy price for the increased fire directed at Israeli citizens sitting at the table to celebrate Seder Night.”
Earlier, the IDF had warned on Wednesday that Iran and Hezbollah could launch coordinated attacks on Israel at the start of the holiday that evening. Iran launched nearly 10 ballistic missiles minutes before the start of Passover, carrying out one of the most significant attacks by the Islamic Republic in weeks.
“You won’t see [the heavy price]”Because you will be at the bottom of hell together with Nasrallah, Khamenei, Sinwar and all the eliminated members of the evil axis,” said Katz, and continued: “But the Hezbollah terrorist organization that you currently head and its supporters in Lebanon will pay the heaviest price.”
Defense Minister Israel Katz at Jerusalem City Hall, December 15, 2025. (Source: CHAIM GOLDBERG/FLASH90)
Katza added that the attacks will not deter Israel and that the country will never return to the security situation Israel had before the attack began. Israel-Hamas War on 7 October 2023, which Hezbollah joined the next day.
“Your bosses in Iran have been crushed and will be of no use to you against the might of the Israeli Armed Forces and the courage and determination of our soldiers to bring security to the North,” Katz said in his message to Qasim. “By ensuring IDF security control over the entire Litani region, we will clear Hezbollah and its supporters from Southern Lebanon and remove Hezbollah’s ‘snake teeth’ throughout Lebanon.”
Katz first announced last week that Israel would occupy southern Lebanon up to the Litani River. The minister said the move would be carried out in order to create a “defensive buffer” against Hezbollah.
Khamenei backed Hezbollah leader without promising aid
In the messages he sent to Hezbollah leader on Wednesday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei announced that he prayed for Qasim’s success and that he was “hopeful” that he would “thwart the conspiracies of the Zionist enemy.”
But beyond ideological support, Khamenei’s message did not explicitly mention that the Islamic Republic would provide further material aid to Hezbollah.
