Hassan Nasrallah meanwhile was the leader of the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah - he was assassinated in Beirut in September as Israel dramatically escalated its military campaign against Hezbollah, with which it had been trading near daily cross-border fire since the day after the 7 October attacks.

The Israeli official threatened to take similar action against the leadership of the Houthi rebel group in Yemen.

Israel Katz admitted for the first time publicly to Israel's killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran in July, further risking tensions in the region.