"You and your friends will pay a very heavy price for the increased shooting at Israeli citizens while they are sitting down to celebrate the Seder Night,” Katz told Qassem in a video message.

Defense Minister Israel Katz issued a stark warning to Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem on Thursday, saying he would not live to see the “very heavy price” for attacks on Israel during Passover and would end up “at the bottom of hell” with other eliminated Iranian proxy leaders.

Katz’s comments came in a video message following a Thursday situational assessment with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and other top military officials at “the pit,” the IDF’s command center beneath the Kiyra military compound.

"I have a clear message to Naim Qassem, Secretary-General of the Hezbollah terrorist organization: You and your friends will pay a very heavy price for the increased shooting at Israeli citizens while they are sitting down to celebrate the Seder Night,” Katz said.

Previously, the IDF on Wednesday warned that Iran and Hezbollah might launch coordinated attacks on Israel at the start of the holiday that evening. Iran then fired around 10 ballistic missiles minutes before Passover began in one of the most significant barrages from the Islamic Republic in weeks.

“You will no not be able to 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 axis of evil,” Katz said, adding, “but the Hezbollah terrorist organization, which you now head, and its supporters in Lebanon will pay the heaviest prices.”

Katza added that the attacks would not deter Israel and that the country would never return to the security situation that existed for Israel before the start of the Israel-Hamas War on October 7, 2023, which Hezbollah joined the next day.

“Your patrons in Iran are crushed and will be of no use to you against the might of the IDF and the bravery and commitment of our soldiers to bring security to the North,” Katz said in the message to Qassem. “We will cleanse Hezbollah and its supporters from southern Lebanon, with IDF security control over the entire Litani area, and we will uproot Hezbollah’s ‘snake’s teeth’ throughout Lebanon.”

Katz originally announced that Israel would occupy southern Lebanon up to the Litani River last week. The minister said the move would be carried out to create a "defensive buffer" against Hezbollah.

Khamenei voices support for Hezbollah chief without aid pledge

In messages to the Hezbollah leader on Wednesday, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei announced that he was praying for Qassem’s success and was “hopeful” that he would “thwart the Zionist enemy's plots.”

Beyond ideological support, however, Khamenei’s message did not explicitly mention that the Islamic Republic would provide Hezbollah with further material assistance.