Israel says it’s going to quickly ‘make the necessary decisions’ about confronting the Iran-allied Lebanese group.
Iran says Hezbollah is able to defending itself and Lebanon, warning Israel that it could be the “ultimate loser” in an all-out conflict with the Lebanese armed group.
Tehran’s assertion on Friday got here as fears of a significant Israeli offensive in Lebanon continued to mount.
“Any imprudent decision by the occupying Israeli regime to save itself could plunge the region into a new war, the consequence of which would be the destruction of Lebanon’s infrastructure as well as that of the 1948 occupied territories,” Iran’s mission to the United Nations mentioned in a social media publish.
“Undoubtedly, this war will have one ultimate loser, which is the Zionist regime. The Lebanese Resistance Movement, Hezbollah, has the capability to defend itself and Lebanon – perhaps the time for the self-annihilation of this illegitimate regime has come.”
Israel additionally issued a menace to Iran-aligned Hezbollah on Friday with Overseas Minister Israel Katz saying “soon we will make the necessary decisions” about confronting the Lebanese group.
“The free world must unconditionally stand with Israel in its war against the axis of evil led by Iran and extremist Islam. Our war is also your war,” Katz mentioned.
Israel can not permit the Hezbollah terror group to proceed attacking its territory and residents, and shortly we are going to make the required choices. The free world should unconditionally stand with Israel in its conflict towards the axis of evil led by Iran and extremist Islam. Our…
— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) June 21, 2024
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah mentioned this week that if the Israeli army goes to conflict in Lebanon, his group will use its rockets and drones to hit targets throughout the whole territory of Israel. He warned Hezbollah would wage a conflict with “no restraint and no rules and no ceilings”.
Nasrallah additionally issued a menace to Cyprus, a European Union member that sits within the japanese Mediterranean west of the Lebanese and Israeli coasts. He mentioned the group has info that Israel is conducting army workouts in Cyprus in terrain just like southern Lebanon.
Nasrallah added that Israel plans to make use of airports and bases in Cyprus for army functions if its personal infrastructure is focused throughout a critical conflict.
“Opening Cypriot airports and bases for the Israeli enemy to target Lebanon means the Cypriot government has become part of the war, and the resistance will deal with it as part of the war,” he mentioned with out elaborating.
Cyprus mentioned Nasrallah’s menace will not be grounded in actuality, stressing the nation enjoys nice relations with Lebanon.
Nonetheless, the Hezbollah assertion exacerbated considerations about a fair bigger regional conflict that might spill past Lebanon’s borders and pull Iran-allied teams – if not Tehran itself – in addition to america into the battle.
Hezbollah began attacking army bases in northern Israel the day after the outbreak of the conflict on Gaza on October 7 in what it says is a “support front” to again Palestinian teams. Israel responded by bombing southern Lebanese villages and Hezbollah positions.
Whereas the near-daily clashes have displaced tens of 1000’s of individuals in Lebanon and Israel, they’ve been largely contained to the border areas.
However the violence has escalated in current weeks, particularly after an Israeli air raid killed a high Hezbollah commander in southern Lebanon final week.
On Friday, Hezbollah claimed a number of army operations towards Israel, together with a drone assault it mentioned focused Israeli forces at a coastal base on the western facet of the border.
The US has pushed for a diplomatic decision to the disaster whereas expressing concern about Hezbollah’s assaults. “We have made quite clear we do not want to see escalation of this conflict,” Division of State spokesperson Matthew Miller advised reporters on Thursday.
For its half, Hezbollah has mentioned it’s going to proceed operations towards the Israeli army till Israel ends its conflict in Gaza, which has killed greater than 37,000 Palestinians.
