Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah leader taunts Israel in his first speech since Israel-Hamas war started

BEIRUT (AP) — The leader of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group is speaking out for the first time since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. Hassan Nasrallah’s speech on Friday was broadcast to supporters in Beirut via a video-link. Earlier in the day, celebratory gunshots rang out over the Lebanese capital where thousands packed into a square in the southern suburbs to hear the speech. The speech came a day after the most significant escalation in clashes between Hezbollah and Israeli forces on the Israel-Lebanon border since the Palestinian militant Hamas group’s deadly Oct. 7 incursion into southern Israel and also on the same day as a visit to Israel by the top U.S. diplomat.