As the escalating conflict between Israel and Hamas continues to play out, Hezbollah has been making its presence felt. The terrorist group has engaged in skirmishes with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in the north. But now, its leadership has indicated that the organization is “fully prepared” to get more involved in the fighting, which could further complicate the situation for Israel.
One of Hezbollah’s leaders said during a recent speech that the organization rejects calls from other nations to stand down and refrain from entering the conflict.
Foreign powers have urged Hezbollah to stay put on the sidelines – but deputy chief Naim Qassem vowed to join “when the time comes for action”.
He told supporters gathered in the southern Beirut suburb: “The behind-the-scenes calls with us by great powers, Arab countries, envoys of the United Nations, directly and indirectly telling us not to interfere will have no effect.
“Hezbollah knows its duties perfectly well. We are prepared and ready, fully ready, and be are following developments moment by moment.”
The group has already clashed with Israel across the Lebanese border multiple times in the past week. These comments mark the most recent indication of Hezbollah’s intentions in the region. Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, praised Hamas’ surprise attack on Saturday that launched the war. But he has not yet given concrete remarks indicating how the terrorist group plans to proceed. However, Nasrallah reportedly met with Iran’s foreign minister on Friday according to a Hezbollah-linked media outlet, which noted that the two discussed “recent events and developments in the region,” focusing on the Israel/Hamas war.
This development comes as Israel prepares to mount a serious offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to the south. The IDF has dropped leaflets in the region, urging civilians to flee, and has called on the United Nations to help facilitate the evacuation.
The United Nations was given a copy of the evacuation orders by Israeli officials as the IDF continues to pound the strip with hundreds of airstrikes. The IDF has dropped at least 6,000 precision-guided bombs in just six days, inflicting an immense amount of damage on Hamas’s ability to wage terrorism.
The Israeli air force on Thursday said it had dropped 6,000 bombs against Hamas targets so far — a staggering number over the course of six days, according to warfare experts.
“Israel is dropping in less than a week what the U.S. was dropping in Afghanistan in a year, in a much smaller, much more densely populated area, where mistakes are going to be magnified,” said Marc Garlasco, a military adviser at the Dutch organization PAX for Peace and a former U.N. war crimes investigator in Libya. He helped plan airstrikes for the Pentagon during the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
Hamas has dismissed the warnings as “fake propaganda” and has urged Palestinian residents in the Gaza Strip to stay put.
With Israel focused on Gaza, it is probable that Hezbollah sees an opportunity to cause more damage and further its objective to eliminate Israel, which would be placed in a more precarious situation if it has to fight a two-front war. However, it is also possible that Qassem’s fiery comments could be simple saber-rattling. Entering the conflict would be a risky move for Hezbollah, which lost over 1,000 people when it went to war with Israel in 2006. Still, it is a possibility that could further reshape the landscape in the Middle East.
