Hizbullah Leader Warns Skirmishes With Israel on Border Could Turn Into All-Out War
Nasrallah holds the US accountable for the ongoing hostilities and cautions against escalating aggression in Gaza
Delivering a fiery speech from an undisclosed location, Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah warned that war between Israel and Hamas could turn into a regional conflict if attacks on Gaza continue, placing responsibility firmly on the United States.
“America is entirely responsible for the ongoing war on Gaza and its people, and Israel is simply a tool of execution,” Nasrallah said in a televised broadcast, calling the conflict “decisive.”
In his first and highly anticipated speech since war erupted a month ago between Hamas and Israel, the head of the powerful Iran-backed movement warned that “all options” were open for an expansion of the conflict to Lebanon.
“Whoever wants to prevent a regional war—and this is addressed to the Americans—must quickly stop the aggression on Gaza,” he said.
Nasrallah did not declare a wider war with Israel.
Some claim Hizbullah is about to join the fray. I tell you: We have been engaged in this battle since October 8.
“Some claim Hizbullah is about to join the fray. I tell you: We have been engaged in this battle since October 8,” he said.
Thousands of supporters gathered to hear the fiery speech at an event in Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hizbullah stronghold, held in memory of the group’s fighters killed in Israeli bombardments.
Others gathered elsewhere in Lebanon and in the region, including Tehran and Baghdad.
Nasrallah attempted to walk a fine line on the Israel-Hamas war; he also said Hizbullah would be “prepared for all scenarios,” and that any escalation by the Israeli army at the border would be “a historic folly” that would prompt a major response.
Since Hamas members launched a shock October 7 attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip, Lebanon’s southern border has seen escalation with limited flare-ups, mainly between Israel and Hizbullah, an ally of the Palestinian group, raising fears of a broader conflict.
Nasrallah’s address was watched closely in Israel, Lebanon, and around the Middle East for any signs that his powerful Iranian-backed group could expand its rocket attacks and other strikes on northern Israel.
Nasrallah warned that the chance of open conflict was “realistic.”
“We say to the enemy that might think of attacking Lebanon or carrying out a pre-emptive operation, that this would be the greatest foolishness of its existence,” he said.
He spoke for almost two hours, using a threatening tone, but, despite all the tough talk, Nasrallah was not beating war drums. He said Hizbullah’s “primary goal” was to achieve a cease-fire in Gaza, and said it was incumbent on the US—which he held directly responsible for the bloodshed in the Palestinian enclave—to implement the cessation of hostilities.
The reclusive head of the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group heaped praise on Hamas and hailed the war as a “turning point” in the Arab-Israeli conflict.
US President Joe Biden has sent two aircraft carrier groups to the Eastern Mediterranean, with the aim of deterring Hizbullah and Iran from opening a new front in southern Lebanon or Syria.
But a defiant Nasrallah had a message for the United States: “Your fleet in the Mediterranean does not scare us. … We are ready to face the fleet you threaten us with.”
“You Americans know well that if there is war in the region, your fleet will be of no use, nor will air combat help. Your interests and your soldiers and your fleet will be the first to pay the price,” he added.
The address was given on the same day that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in Israel.
