Saturday, the foreign minister of Iran urged Israel to cease its assaults on Gaza, threatening that if Hezbollah joins the conflict, the conflict could spread to other regions of the Middle East, causing Israel to endure “a tremendous earthquake.”
Hossein Amirabdollahian stated to reporters in Beirut that Hezbollah has considered every conceivable war scenario and that Israel should immediately cease its attacks on Gaza.
Hezbollah is regarded as the most significant imminent menace by Israel, which estimates that the organization possesses around 150,000 rockets and missiles, including precision-guided missiles capable of penetrating any location within the country.
The organization, comprised of tens of thousands of combat-seasoned combatants who have been involved in the twelve-year Syrian civil war, also possesses an assortment of military drones.
Since the militant Palestinian group Hamas’s attack along Lebanon’s borders with Israel last Saturday, which claimed the lives of hundreds of Israeli civilians and soldiers, Hezbollah fighters have been on high alert along those borders.
Hezbollah reported on Friday that its fighters had launched multiple missiles at four Israeli positions along the frontier.
The Israeli military announced on Saturday that an Israeli drone strike along the border with Lebanon killed a “cell” attempting to infiltrate Israel.
A barrage of missiles and shells was launched by Hezbollah combatants against Israeli positions in the contested Chebaa Farms on Saturday afternoon. In response, Israeli forces opened fire on adjacent regions in southern Lebanon.
Terrorist organizations Hezbollah and Hamas have both been designated by the United States.
According to Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV, Amirabdollahian discussed the situation in Gaza and the region with Saleh Arouri, the highest-ranking Hamas official in exile, and Ziad Nakhaleh, the chief of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, during a meeting on Saturday in Beirut.
Multiple Hamas officials have asserted that the Palestinian organization was solely responsible for the attack on southern Israel last Saturday, which claimed the lives of more than 1,300 civilians and Israeli military, and that Iran had no involvement. Officials from Hamas did not return calls from The Associated Press requesting confirmation and additional information regarding the meeting.
Saturday afternoon, Amirabdollahian departed Beirut after a voyage that included Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, all of which are regions where Tehran wields considerable influence.
According to Amirabdollahian, he conferred with Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Friday, where he was informed of the organization’s situation in Lebanon.
“I know about the scenarios that Hezbollah has put in place,” Amirabdollahian said. “Any step the resistance (Hezbollah) will take will cause a huge earthquake in the Zionist entity.”
Amirabdollahian added: “I want to warn the war criminals and those who support this entity before it’s too late to stop the crimes against civilians in Gaza, because it might be too late in few hours.”
President Joe Biden of the United States has cautioned other Middle Eastern actors against becoming involved in the conflict, with Hezbollah in mind. He has also dispatched American warships to the area and pledged Israel’s unwavering support.
The Iranian foreign minister said he will be contacting U.N. officials in the Middle East because “there is still an opportunity to work on an initiative (to end the war) but it might be too late tomorrow.”
The prospect of an additional front in Lebanon evokes resentment regarding a month-long, vicious conflict between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006, which culminated in a tense detente and a stalemate.