Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has warned of a military escalation on the Israeli-Lebanese border. The secretary general of Lebanon’s Shiite organization made the comments on Friday for the first time since the start of the Gaza war on October 7, when Hamas terrorists carried out massacres in Israel.
Nasrallah praised the attack as “wise and courageous.” More than 1,400 people were killed in the attack and more than 240 were taken hostage.
The US warned Hezbollah and its ally Iran not to open a new front. Addressing Israel, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for better protection for Palestinian civilians.
Nasrallah: “All options are on the table”
The Hezbollah chief, who assigned the US “sole responsibility” for the war, emphasized in his public address that all options were on the table. An escalation depends on the course of the war in the Gaza Strip and on Israel’s behavior towards Lebanon. The soldiers of the USA – Israel’s most important ally – would be victims and the biggest losers in the event of a regional war.
Hezbollah, which is closely allied with Iran, is considered an influential political force in Lebanon and significantly stronger militarily than Hamas.
There have been repeated clashes between Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters on the border between Israel and Lebanon. Hezbollah has reported at least 55 deaths in its own ranks since the recent confrontations began. According to the military, seven people have been killed on the Israeli side since the start of the war, including six soldiers and one civilian.
USA calls for protection of Palestinian civilians
US Secretary of State Blinken called for better protection for civilians in the Gaza Strip during his renewed visit to Israel. “We must do more to protect Palestinian civilians,” he said after meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv. He made it clear that it depends on how the country wages the war against Hamas, which rules in the Gaza Strip. It is important to proceed “correctly and lawfully,” because anything else would play into the hands of Hamas and other terrorist groups, said Blinken
Natanyahu rejects ceasefires without the release of hostages
Blinken said he discussed possible humanitarian ceasefires at length in his meetings with government officials. These are intended to provide people in the Gaza Strip with help and to give them the opportunity to reach safety. Netanyahu rejected ceasefires unless the Islamist Hamas released the hostages it was holding.
“We will not stop until we achieve victory and achieve our defined goals: eliminating Hamas, returning our hostages and restoring security to our children and citizens,” Netanyahu said. There will also be no fuel deliveries in order to prevent abuse by Hamas.
Baerbock warns of attack and calls for humanitarian breaks
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also warned Hezbollah against a large-scale attack on Israel. The people of Lebanon just want to live in peace and no further escalation in the region, said the Green politician in the Armenian capital Yerevan.
With a view to the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, Baerbock called for the breaks to supply the civilian population, also requested by the EU, to be implemented. “Humanitarian aid is an imperative of humanity. There must be humanitarian breaks and humanitarian corridors for this,” she said.
Since the Hamas terrorist attacks, Israel says it has attacked more than 12,000 targets in the Gaza Strip. Israeli ground troops are now also advancing there against Hamas terrorists and military targets.
According to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, more than 9,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip so far. According to Israeli information, 8,000 rockets have been fired from there at Israeli towns since the start of the war.
Palestinians: Several dead in the West Bank
In addition to the fighting in Gaza, there were also violent clashes in the occupied West Bank. According to Palestinian information, at least nine people were killed there in new Israeli military operations. The Ministry of Health in Ramallah said five of them died that night in the refugee district in Jenin.
Ireland’s head of government: Israel’s reaction is more like revenge
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar is critical of Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip. Israel, like every state, has the right to defend itself and to persecute Hamas so that it cannot commit such an attack again. “But what I see now is not just self-defense,” Varadkar told reporters during a visit to South Korea. It looks more like revenge.
AFP office in Gaza damaged by impact – no injuries
The office of the French news agency AFP in the Gaza Strip was badly damaged when a bullet hit. None of the eight personnel normally stationed in Gaza were on site at the time of the strike as all had already been evacuated to the southern Gaza Strip, AFP reported on Friday.
“AFP condemns in the strongest possible terms the strike against its office in Gaza City,” said agency head Fabrice Fries. According to the AFP report, an Israeli army spokesman said there was no Israeli shelling of the building.
