(RepublicanReport.org) – Israel has been on the offensive for several months now. After Hamas launched a surprise attack on October 7, the Middle Eastern nation has been targeting the militant group with one goal in mind: to eradicate it. That has led to a bloody conflict in which millions of Palestinians have been displaced, and Israel has been warned by several nations to abort its planned invasion of Rafah, where more than a million have sought refuge. Now, Israel is warning another militant group that it’s prepared to take it on.
Hezbollah Threatens Israel
Hezbollah is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and a militant group founded in 1985. Since 1992, it’s been led by Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, who recently issued a dire warning to Cyprus. He said if the island nation works with Israel by allowing it to use its military bases and airports, it would be considered part of the conflict, and Hezbollah “will fight without constraints, rules, or limits.” He went on to say he doesn’t want a large-scale conflict, but “there will be no place safe from [Hezbollah’s] missiles and [its] drones” should that happen.
The message to Cyprus came days after intensified clashes between Israel and Hezbollah. The militant group released video footage taken via drone showing aerial views of strategic sites in the Jewish state, including the port of Haifa, in what’s being viewed as a thinly veiled threat.
Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides released a statement on X, formerly Twitter, saying that his country “is not part of the problem” but rather “part of the solution.”
Israel’s Warning
Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz also took to social media and said officials are considering whether to engage in “an all-out war” with Hezbollah and said if the decision was made to do so, the militant group would be wiped out and “Lebanon will be severely hit.” The statement is eerily reminiscent of what it’s trying to do with Hamas.
Hezbollah has been involved in the conflict since the day after Hamas’ attack. The United States is desperately trying to cool tensions between the two sides. A full-on conflict with Hezbollah would be on a much larger scale than what is currently happening with Hamas due to Hezbollah’s large number of forces and weaponry it has in stock.
Amos Hochstein, a US envoy, was sent to Lebanon in hopes of smoothing over tensions between the two sides. The Pentagon has said it does not want to see an escalation of war in the region.
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