In his first speech broadcast since the beginning of the war between Israel and Palestinian factions led by Hamas, the leader of the powerful Lebanese Hezbollah movement warned that any intervention by the U.S. against a growing coalition of militias targeting Israel would deal a decisive defeat to Washington’s. interests and troops in the region.
Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah praised Hamas’ unprecedented October 7 surprise attack against Israel and expressed his solidarity with the group now engaged in fierce battles with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in the Gaza Strip during his remarks Friday. Already engaged in deepening clashes with Israel along the border with Lebanon, he said Hezbollah was prepared to expand this front.
Nasrallah also took direct aim at the U.S., which has increased its force posture in the region, including through the deployment of a Navy carrier strike group in the Eastern Mediterranean, in a bid to deter a wider war from spreading.
But Nasrallah said “your Navy ships in the Mediterranean don’t scare us and they never did.”
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He went on to reference past U.S. setbacks in the broader region.
“To the Americans, I say to you, remember your defeats in Lebanon, Iraq, in Afghanistan and remember how you humiliatingly withdrew from Afghanistan,” he said. “Today, Americans, I say to you, that those who defeated you in Lebanon at the beginning of the 80s, they are still alive and together with them we have today their children and their grandchildren.”
“Those who want a prevent a regional war, they must quickly proceed to put an end to the aggression on Gaza,” Nasrallah said in his remarks. “And you, the Americans, you know very well that if war were to erupt in the region that your Navy ships, your Air Force, will be to no available and your interests, your troops your Navy ships, they will pay the price first and foremost, they will be the biggest loser.”
This is a developing news story. More information will be added as it becomes available.
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