The chief of Iranian-backed Hezbollah praised Hamas during a speech on Friday for its attacks against Israel, but avoided announcing a full-scale invasion by his own terror group, according to multiple reports.
Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah gave a speech in Lebanon on Friday reaffirming Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks against Israel as “right, wise, and just” and condemning the United States as the perpetrator of the conflict, according to BBC. Nasrallah noted that Palestinians were solely responsible for the initial attacks and said Hezbollah could escalate the conflict, but did not give a clear indication that it would launch a full-scale attack against Israel, according to The Associated Press.
“This great, large-scale operation was purely the result of Palestinian planning and implementation,” Nasrallah said, according to the AP.
#Hezbollah Chief #Nasrallah: “The United States is controlling the war in #Gaza, and it is the United States that must pay the price for the for the crimes perpetrated by the Israelis in Gaza and by the Americans in #Iraq and elsewhere.”#Lebanon #Israel #Palestine pic.twitter.com/ez6AoEouUI
— NATO
VS KREMLIN
(@eduinfotech101) Nasrallah said that Hezbollah had already been involved in the conflict since it began, in an apparent reference to small-scale skirmishes along Israel’s northern border, according to Reuters and the AP.
“Some say I’m going to announce that we have entered the battle. We already entered the battle on Oct. 8,” Nasrallah said, according to the AP.
Nasrallah also blamed the U.S. as being responsible for the chaos erupting within Gaza and surrounding Middle Eastern regions, insisting that the country needs to “pay the price” for defending and aiding Israel against Hamas, according to Reuters. Iranian-backed terror groups have launched over two dozen attacks against U.S. troops throughout the Middle East since Oct. 17, including at military bases in Iraq and Syria.
“If an all-out war breaks out, you Americans will pay with your ships, your aircrafts and your soldiers,” Nasrallah threatened, according to the Times of Israel. “Remember your defeats in Lebanon and Iraq, and your humiliating withdrawal from Afghanistan. Those who defeated you in Lebanon in the 1980s are still alive and their children and grandchildren are ready to face you.”
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have ramped up troop presence at the Lebanon-Israel border in anticipation of a potential attack. Israeli National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi told Hezbollah in October to stay out of the conflict in Gaza and warned that their possible involvement would lead to Lebanon’s “destruction,” according to Reuters.
“We hope Hezbollah won’t, de facto, bring about the destruction of Lebanon, because if there is a war there the result will be no less,” Hanegbi said.
The White House and IDF did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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