Hezbollah is making its presence known as the conflict between Israel, Hamas, and other parties escalates. The terrorist group engaged in skirmishes in the north with the Israel Defense Forces. Now, the leadership of the group has stated that it is “fully ready” to become more involved in the fight, which could complicate matters for Israel.
Hezbollah’s leader said in a recent address that the group rejects the calls of other nations to stop the conflict and stand down.
Hezbollah’s deputy chief Naim Quassem has vowed to take action “whenever the time is right”.
He told his supporters in a southern Beirut suburb that “the calls behind the scenes by great powers, Arab nations, and envoys from the United Nations telling us to not interfere, will have no impact.”
Hezbollah is fully aware of its duties. We are fully prepared, ready and we are watching the developments closely.
In the last week, the group has clashed multiple times with Israel on the Lebanese side of the border. Hezbollah has been indicating its intentions in the area for some time now. Hassan Nasrallah praised Hamas for its surprise attack that started the war on Saturday. He has yet to make any concrete statements about how the terrorist organization plans to move forward. According to Hezbollah media, Nasrallah met Iran’s Foreign Minister on Friday. The two discussed recent events and developments in the region, focusing on the Israel/Hamas War.
Israel is preparing to launch a major offensive against Hamas, in the Gaza Strip. IDF leaflets have been dropped in the area, encouraging civilians to leave. They also called on the United Nations for assistance.
Israeli officials have sent a copy to the United Nations of the evacuation order as the IDF continues bombarding the strip with airstrikes. In just six days, the IDF dropped at least 6,500 precision-guided airstrikes on Hamas. This has caused a massive amount of damage to Hamas’s ability to wage terrorism.
The Israeli air force said on Thursday that it has dropped 6,000 bombs so far against Hamas’ targets — an astounding number in just six days.
Marc Garlasco is a military advisor at PAX for Peace in the Netherlands and a former U.N. investigator for war crimes in Libya. He was involved in the planning of airstrikes by the Pentagon for the U.S. invasion.
Hamas dismissed the warnings and urged Palestinians in the Gaza Strip not to leave their homes.
Hezbollah may see an opportunity with Israel focusing on Gaza to do more damage and to further its goal to eliminate Israel. Israel would be in a precarious position if they had to fight two fronts. Qassem could have been merely saber rattling with his fiery remarks. Hezbollah would take a big risk by entering the conflict. It lost more than 1,000 people in 2006 when it fought Israel. It is still a possibility, and it could reshape the Middle East.
