Lebanon Says Hezbollah Pledges Not To Join War With Israel
Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bouhabib has officially confirmed that Hezbollah has committed to refrain from participating in any hostilities unless provoked by Israel.
Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bouhabib has officially confirmed that Hezbollah has committed to refrain from participating in any hostilities unless provoked by Israel.
On Sunday, Hezbollah fired rockets and shells at Israeli positions in a disputed area along the northern border. Soon after, Israel retaliated with armed drones. No injuries were reported on either side.
The Iran-backed terror group -- Iran's most powerful proxy -- cited their actions as an act of solidarity with the ongoing Hamas aggressions in the region.
In an official statement, the Hezbollah attributed the act as a demonstration of support for the "Palestinian resistance". The UN's peacekeeping troops, UNIFIL, have bolstered their presence in the border region since Saturday to prevent escalation.
The Israeli Ministry of Health has announced that in the Hamas attacks on the country, at least 800 Israelis have been killed, and 2,382 people have been injured so far. According to the report, 22 of the injured are in critical condition. In Israel's retaliatory attacks on the Gaza Strip, 493 people have lost their lives so far, and 2,750 people have been injured.
Yoav Gallant, the Israeli Defense Minister, issued a full blockade order on Gaza on Monday, stating that they have cut off electricity and will block the entry of food and fuel to the enclave.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Naser Kanaani told the media that Palestinians launched the attack relying on their own power and insisted that accusations against Iran have political motives.
Hamas spokesman Ghazi Hamad told the BBC on Sunday that Iran provided support to the Palestinian terror group to launch its surprise attack on Israel on Saturday. The Wall Street Journal also reported that both Hamas and Hezbollah sources confirmed the involvement of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard in planning the attack and in the final decision to set a date.
The Iranian regime also immediately launched celebrations on Saturday while the killing of Israeli civilians was still going on, and even erected large banners in Tehran within hours bearing the codename for the operation, a fact that betrayed Iran’s foreknowledge of the attack.
The Iranian regime signaled its support for Hamas, which is largely financed and armed by Tehran. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s social media, President Ebrahim Raisi and a host of other officials and the state media widely expressed their satisfaction with the attack the very first day.
Hardliner regime loyalists in Iran continued to defend their policies in supporting the Palestinian Islamic Hamas, some by issuing threats against regional countries.
"The best way to destroy Israel is the overthrow of the regional puppet governments. Israel does not have the audacity to attack Iran, with the advanced weapons we possess, we will destroy Israel. We have things they are unaware of." These were the words of Fereydoun Abbasi on Monday, a hardliner member of the Islamic parliament and a former head of Iran’s nuclear agency.
His reference to “puppet governments” is a typical label used by Iranian officials to refer to Saudi Arabia and its allies. Abbasi’s comment shows how shallow the apparent détente is between Tehran and Riyadh, who restored diplomatic ties in March with Chinese mediation. His comments, along with many others since October 7, also show more than ever the Iranian regime’s commitment to eradicate Israel.
Ali-Akbar Velayati, foreign policy advisor to Ali Khamenei was quoted on Monday as telling his Syrian counterpart, “Those who believe that by so-called normalization of relations with the Zionists and cutting off ties with the Muslim nations of the region can solve their problems should take heed of these events.”
Kanaani also made it clear during his briefing that the Hamas attack was linked to the rapprochement between Israel and Saudi Arabia. He underlined that Khamenei had warned Arab countries last week not to engage in such a “gamble” and instead support the Palestinians.
The large-scale terror attack on Israel will probably keep the Islamic Republic firmly in the category of rogue regimes for some time to come. Statements by regime figures clearly show that Iran’s aging ruler Ali Khamenei took the Hamas gamble to disrupt the emerging normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel.
Since its inception in 1979, the Islamic Republic has relentlessly pursued an anti-West, anti-Israel ideology. Its foreign policy is to a large extent the by-product of this ideology based on 20th century propaganda rhetoric largely disseminated at the time by the Soviet Union and its Communist and leftist allies around the globe.
The regime’s proxy in Gaza, Hamas, designated as a terror group by the likes of the UK and US, has taken around 150 hostages into Gaza after a mass infiltration into Israel on Saturday, including women and children.
On Sunday, President Joe Biden spoke again with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, confirming that “dozens” of American citizens are among the hostages seized.
It is Biden’s worst nightmare after a recent deal to secure the release of just five US-Iranian dual nationals saw the regime pocket $6bn in previously frozen funds from South Korea, and another $2.7 billion released from Iraq in June, although not officially part of the ransom.
Robert O’Brien, the former national security adviser under Donald Trump’s presidency, has even called for American special forces to be deployed to Israel to rescue hostages, as the war continues to see the death toll climb beyond 700 on the Israeli side, and close to 500 on the Palestinian.
Speaking to Fox News, O’Brien said this weekend: “There is a direct correlation between taking Americans hostage and these big ransom payments. It has to end.”
Calling for the Biden administration to take urgent action after pictures of US-Israeli citizens began to circulate on social media, he said: “I think we need to get American servicemen who are specially trained to rescue hostages, we need to get them on the ground in Israel right away.”
The hostages in Gaza might prove to be one of the most difficult issues in this conflict, as they are now probably dispersed throughout the heavily populated Gaza strip and under armed guards. Once military operations subside one way or another, it is not clear what Hamas would demand for their release. If Israel invades the territory in full force, it is not clear what Hamas will do with the captives.
One of the citizens known to be missing is Hersh Goldberg-Polin, one of hundreds caught up in the war at a festival in Israel’s south. Hundreds of partygoers are still missing, and hundreds were slaughtered as Hamas gunmen landed in the midst of the festival with gliders and went on a killing spree.
Born in Berkeley, California, Goldberg-Polin had recently been discharged from the Israeli army and was working as a medic and waiter in Jerusalem before traveling to India.
US officials have said that at least four American citizens were killed over the weekend and an additional seven were missing and unaccounted for. Dozens more dual nationals are feared missing including German and British passport holders, Thais and Mexicans.
In spite of secretary of state Antony Blinken claiming to have seen no evidence of Iran’s orchestrating the weekend’s atrocities, the US began making moves that cannot be seen as anything but a message to the regime.
Defense secretary Lloyd Austin said Sunday he has ordered the Ford carrier strike group to sail to the Eastern Mediterranean to be ready to assist Israel.
The USS Gerald R. Ford, the Navy’s newest and most advanced aircraft carrier, and its approximately 5,000 sailors and deck of warplanes will be accompanied by cruisers and destroyers in a show of force that is meant to be ready to respond to anything, from possibly interdicting additional weapons from reaching Hamas from Iran and conducting surveillance.
The large deployment reflects a US desire to deter any regional expansion of the conflict. But the Israeli government formally declared war Sunday and gave the green light for “significant military steps” to retaliate against Hamas.
