Israel says it will “soon take the necessary decisions” to confront the Lebanese group allied with Iran.
Iran says Hezbollah is capable of defending itself and Lebanon, warning Israel it would be the “big loser” in an all-out war with the Lebanese armed group.
Tehran’s statement Friday comes as fears of a major Israeli offensive in Lebanon continue to grow.
“Any reckless decision by the Israeli occupying regime to save itself could plunge the region into a new war, the consequence of which would be the destruction of the infrastructure of Lebanon as well as that of the territories occupied in 1948,” declared the Iranian mission to the United Nations. in a post on social media.
“Without a doubt, this war will have a big loser, namely the Zionist regime. The Lebanese Resistance Movement, Hezbollah, has the capacity to defend itself and Lebanon – perhaps the time for the self-annihilation of this illegitimate regime has come.
Israel also threatened Iran-aligned Hezbollah on Friday, with Foreign Minister Israel Katz saying that “soon we will make the necessary decisions” to confront the Lebanese group.
“The free world must stand unconditionally with Israel in its war against the axis of evil led by Iran and extremist Islam. Our war is also your war,” Katz said.
Israel cannot allow the terrorist organization Hezbollah to continue attacking its territory and its citizens, and we will soon make the necessary decisions. The free world must stand unconditionally with Israel in its war against the axis of evil led by Iran and extremist Islam. OUR…
– ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) June 21, 2024
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said this week that if the Israeli army goes to war in Lebanon, his group will use its rockets and drones to strike targets throughout Israel. He warned that Hezbollah would wage a war “without restraint, without rules and without ceilings”.
Nasrallah also threatened Cyprus, a European Union member located in the eastern Mediterranean, west of the Lebanese and Israeli coasts. He said the group had information that Israel was conducting military exercises in Cyprus on terrain similar to that in southern Lebanon.
Nasrallah added that Israel plans to use Cyprus’ airports and bases for military purposes if its own infrastructure is targeted in a serious war.
“Opening Cypriot airports and bases to the Israeli enemy to target Lebanon means that the Cypriot government has become part of the war, and the resistance will deal with this as part of the war,” he said without further details.
Cyprus said Nasrallah’s threat was not based in reality, stressing that the country had excellent relations with Lebanon.
Still, Hezbollah’s statement heightened concerns about an even broader regional war that could spill beyond Lebanon’s borders and draw in Iran’s allied groups — or even Tehran itself — as well as the United States. in the conflict.
Hezbollah began attacking military bases in northern Israel in the wake of the outbreak of war on Gaza on October 7, in what it describes as a “support front” to support Palestinian groups. Israel responded by bombing southern Lebanese villages and Hezbollah positions.
Although the almost daily clashes have displaced tens of thousands of people in Lebanon and Israel, they have largely been limited to border areas.
But violence has intensified in recent weeks, particularly after an Israeli airstrike killed a senior Hezbollah commander in southern Lebanon last week.
On Friday, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for several military operations against Israel, including a drone attack it said targeted Israeli forces at a coastal base on the western side of the border.
The United States has pushed for a diplomatic resolution to the crisis while expressing concern over Hezbollah attacks. “We have made it clear that we do not want to see an escalation of this conflict,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters Thursday.
For its part, Hezbollah said it would continue its operations against the Israeli army until Israel ends its war in Gaza, which has killed more than 37,000 Palestinians.
