The Biden administration has warns Lebanese terror group Hezbollah that it won’t be able ‘rein in’ Israel if terrorist escalation along Lebanese border continues, media reports say.
“US President Joe Biden’s Mideast envoy Amos Hochstein warned Lebanese officials last week that Washington would not be able to stop Israel from invading should Hezbollah continue its attacks, according to several reports,” the Times of Israel reported Tuesday.
The U.S. warning comes after Hezbollah terror chief Hassan Nasrallah threatened to unleash an all-out war against Israel after relentlessly firing missiles and mortars for months. Armed, Funded and trained by Iran, Hezbollah boasts of a huge arsenal of missiles and weapons — hoarded largely near population centres. The terrorist group has set up missile launch sites in Beirut’s busy neighborhoods and amassed arsenal in city’s main airport.
In recent years, the Shia-Islamic terrorist group “has significantly expanded its arsenal and capabilities, including acquiring suicide drones which Israel has struggled to counter, an anti-aircraft missile capability and a widely expanded array of missiles which experts now believe number between 120,000 and 200,000,” the British newspaper Guardian noted Sunday.
Politico reported U.S. warning to Hezbollah:
U.S. officials trying to prevent a bigger Middle East war are issuing an unusual warning to Hezbollah: Don’t assume that Washington can stop Israel from attacking you.The American message is designed to get the Lebanese-based Shiite militia to back down and de-escalate the brewing crisis along the Israeli-Lebanese border, a person familiar with the discussions said.The blunt message comes as many U.S. officials appear resigned to the possibility that Israel will make a major move against Hezbollah inside Lebanon in the coming weeks.Two U.S. officials told POLITICO that the militia needs to also understand that Washington will help Israel defend itself if Hezbollah retaliates. They stressed that the militant group should not count on America to act as a brake on Israeli decision-making.The message is being conveyed indirectly, the person said; the U.S. doesn’t engage Hezbollah one-on-one because it is a designated terrorist organization, and it relies on public communications or intermediaries.
Tens of thousands of Israeli civilians along the Lebanon border have been forced to flee their homes amid indiscriminate rocket and drones attacks by the Iran-sponsored terrorist group since October 7. “Israel has evacuated 60,000 residents from towns nearest the border, where there’s no warning time for rocket launches because of the proximity of Hezbollah squads,” the Associated Press noted Thursday.
As Hezbollah drags Lebanon into a war with Israel, one of its leading operatives disclosed that the main target of the terrorist group is the United States. Khalil Rizk, who heads Hezbollah foreign relations department, admitted that “this is not a war with Israel. Israel is merely a tool. The main war, the real war, is with America,” the transcript of the video translated by the Arabic media watchdog Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) shows.
Rizk echoes past statements made by Hezbollah chief Nasrallah and Ayatollahs in Iran, who have repeatedly painted the the U.S. as their main ideological enemy in their jihad for global Islamic domination. “America is the Great Satan,” Nasrallah declared in a speech weeks after the October 7 massacre.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah continues rocket and drones strikes into northern Israel. “Following the sirens that sounded regarding a hostile aircraft infiltration in northern Israel, the IDF Aerial Defense Array successfully intercepted two suspicious aerial targets that crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory,” the Israeli military said in a press release Tuesday. “No injuries were reported. Sirens regarding rocket and missile launches were activated in the area due to the danger of falling shrapnel from the interception.”
The military responded by hitting Hezbollah terror targets in Lebanon. “Earlier today, IDF fighter jets struck Hezbollah military structures, as well as terrorist infrastructure in the areas of Khiam and Odaisseh in southern Lebanon,” the statement added. ‘In addition, IDF artillery struck in the areas of Blida, Labbouneh, Naqoura and Kfarchouba in southern Lebanon.”
An Israeli airstrike destroyed a Hamas terrorist base at the Islamic University in northern Gaza, the IDF said Tuesday. The presence of Hamas terror infrastructure inside a university once again highlights the terrorist group’s use systematic of schools, universities and other civilians facilities for its terrorist activities.
The Israeli TV channel i24NEWS reported:
The IDF conducts airstrikes on Hamas facilities in Gaza, targeting a building at the Islamic University used by Hamas terrorists for planning attacksThe operation, carried out overnight, aimed to disrupt terrorist activities including anti-tank fire and planning operations against Israeli forces.Simultaneously, IDF forces in the Rafah region eliminated armed terrorists and destroyed underground routes. The airstrikes also targeted military installations near rocket launch sites and other terrorist infrastructure in central Gaza.
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