Netanyahu Warns Hezbollah Not To Test Israel
Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu has warned Hezbollah not to test Israel and warned it would “pay dearly” if it did, SkyNews reported. Netanyahu said:
I tell our enemies to the north don’t test us, you will pay dearly.
The Israeli Prime Minister stated that there will be no ceasefire with Hamas until more than 240 Israeli hostages are released. He also declared that Israel will continue its operations in Gaza and that its forces are operating at full capacity on all fronts.
Netanyahu’s comments were in response to the leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. Nasrallah warned the United States that preventing a regional conflict depended on stopping Israel’s attack on Gaza. He also hinted at the possibility of a full-fledged war on the Lebanese front. In his speech, Nasrallah threatened the United States, suggesting that his Iran-backed group was prepared to confront U.S. warships in the Mediterranean. Netanyahu’s remarks were made in light of these statements., according to Reuters. Nasrallah said:
You, the Americans, can stop the aggression against Gaza because it is your aggression. Whoever wants to prevent a regional war, and I am talking to the Americans, must quickly halt the aggression on Gaza.
Since October 8, Hezbollah has been engaged in clashes with Israeli forces at the Lebanese-Israeli border. However, these clashes have been mostly limited to the border area, and Hezbollah has only used a small part of its arsenal. Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, stated that their attacks at the border were not the only actions they would take, and that further escalation would depend on events in Gaza and Israeli actions towards Lebanon. Hezbollah, founded by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, is part of an alliance supported by Iran that is hostile towards Israel and the United States. Other Iran-aligned groups have also joined in, with Shiite groups supported by Tehran attacking US forces in Iraq and Syria, and Yemen’s Houthis launching drones at Israel. Nasrallah commended their efforts. He said:
You, the Americans, know very well that if war breaks out in the region, your fleets will be of no use. The one who will pay the price will be … your interests, your soldiers and your fleets.
The White House has warned Hezbollah against exploiting the Hamas-Israel conflict and expressed a desire to prevent the conflict from spreading to Lebanon. The Pentagon has deployed two aircraft carriers in the eastern Mediterranean as a deterrent to prevent further escalation. Despite this, Hezbollah leader Nasrallah stated that his group was not afraid of the warships and claimed to be prepared for them. Nasrallah celebrated the Hamas attack on Israel and suggested that the possibility of a full-fledged war on the Lebanon front was real. Israel, on the other hand, stated that it has no interest in a conflict on its northern frontier. Nasrallah highlighted that Hezbollah’s actions have forced Israel to concentrate forces near its northern border instead of Gaza and the West Bank.
