Leader of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group speaks out for the first time since Israel-Hamas war

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