The Lebanese political party Hezbollah has said that war between them and Israel has already started and the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) are on “very, very high alert” on the northern border.
A foreign affairs writer and former correspondent at Sky News warned on Friday afternoon that Hezbollah “will escalate” conflict against Israel imminently.
Tim Marshall said Hezbollah will work to “calibrate” their responses that will raise “the stakes but does not necessarily draw in an Israel-Lebanon war.”
Marshall told Sky News, “It’s extraordinarily risky when you calibrate violence, because you’re not sure how the other side will react.”
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Since 7 October the Lebanese political party have been conducting “aggressive moves on the border” of northern Israel to “”pin at least 100,000 Israeli troops up against that northern border so they can’t operate elsewhere.”
Marshall added, “The final gear for them is that they have 150,000 rockets, several hundred of them at least are guided munitions, meaning they can reach anywhere in Israel.
“So they could be targeting the major cities and towns with guided munitions.
“That’s the top escalation that without doubt would bring in an Israel-Lebanon war.”
On Friday the leader of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah said, “The Islamic resistance in Lebanon, ever since October 8 is waging a real conflict…It is a real battle and different from all the previous battles waged by the resistance in Lebanon.”
Nasrallah accused the US for what is happening in Gaza saying the “United States is against a ceasefire, against everything.
“They need to take account for what they are doing to people in the region.”
He added, “The Americans are running the war in Gaza and they are paying the costs of that war.”
The Hezbollah leader sad in a message to the US that his fighters are “well prepared” to deal with their warships based in eastern Mediterranean and that they are “not threatened” by them.
He added, “We even have weapons to deal with them.”
“You, the Americans, can stop the aggression against Gaza because it is your aggression. Whoever wants to prevent a regional war, and I am talking to the Americans, must quickly halt the aggression on Gaza,” Nasrallah said.
Nasrallah has also called on the Arab world to cease trading with Israel, he added, Arab countries and other countries have to stop the aggression against Gaza.”
The Hezbollah chief said, “You should ask the aggression to stop. You should stop sending oil, gas or food, anything to Israel. Stop trading with Israel.”
