The leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, has warned Israel to stop its attack on Gaza or else it would get involved in the conflict. Hezbollah’s close ties to Iran would risk involving this regional power into a greater war.
Israel is particularly worried of having to fight Hezbollah in a ground war in the North. Large numbers of troops are already committed in Gaza for rooting out Hamas, and another large contingent is policing the West Bank. The Jerusalem Post says:
The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah warned the United States on Friday that preventing a regional war depended on stopping the Israeli attack on Gaza, and there was a realistic possibility of fighting on the Lebanese front turning into a “wide war.”
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, in his first speech since the Israel-Hamas war erupted on Oct. 7, also threatened Israel’s main ally the United States, hinting his Iran-backed group was ready to confront US warships in the Mediterranean.
Hezbollah is a serious military organization, having fought the Israeli Army many times since its creation in 1985. The United States has previously fought what became Hezbollah when it had troops in Lebanon in the 1980s. Al-Monitor continues:
Outwardly, Israel tried to project business as usual ahead of Nasrallah’s speech. In an unusual decision, all major television channels in Israel agreed not to broadcast the speech live so as not to play into the hands of the Shiite leader, who is used to keeping Israel in suspense when he addresses his followers.
That being said, Israeli officials take him and the threat from Hezbollah seriously. Retired Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, the former head of Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and currently a member of the governmental war cabinet, toured Israel’s northern border on Thursday and conveyed a message to Hezbollah.
The United States Navy having two aircraft carriers in the Eastern Mediterranean will help keep Hezbollah in check. The Biden Administration is still pushing for a cease-fire to evacuate Gaza residents.
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