Hezbollah has taken responsibility for direct-fire attacks along Israel’s border with Lebanon.
The Iran-backed Shiite group has sparred with Israel along the border with Lebanon several times since Hamas’s surprise attack against Israel on Saturday. Hezbollah’s attacks against Israel from its base in Lebanon have raised fears that it could join the war against Israel, greatly expanding the scope of the conflict. Hezbollah had previously taken credit for missile attacks against Israeli positions on Wednesday but announced Friday that it had attacked Israeli positions with direct fire for the first time.
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“In response to the Israeli attacks this afternoon on the vicinity of a number of southern Lebanese towns, the Mujahideen of the Islamic Resistance attacked the following Israeli outposts: the Al-Abad site, the Miskvam site, the Ramia site, and the Jal Al-Alam site, with direct fire and appropriate weapons, and they achieved accurate hits,” the statement read.
In Wednesday’s announcement of rocket attacks, Hezbollah warned of further attacks as it “reaffirms that it will be decisive in its response to the Israeli attacks targeting our country and the security of our people, especially when these attacks lead to the fall of martyrs.”
At a Friday rally, Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem expressed the group’s willingness to join the war against Israel, saying that calls not to would have no effect.
“The behind-the-scenes calls with us by great powers, Arab countries, envoys of the United Nations, directly and indirectly telling us not to interfere will have no effect,” he said, according to Reuters. “Hezbollah knows its duties perfectly well. We are prepared and ready, fully ready.”
“The question being asked, which everyone is waiting for, is what Hezbollah will do and what will its contribution be?” he reportedly added. “We will contribute to the confrontation within our plan … When the time comes for any action, we will carry it out.”
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Hezbollah is far larger and better armed than Hamas, enjoying considerable autonomy within Lebanon. The group is believed to have an army larger than that of the Lebanese state, allowing it to operate with impunity, with extensive help from Iran.
Hezbollah fought the Israel Defense Forces to a draw in 2006 after a month of fighting in Lebanon, and Israel has warned that it has grown considerably since. A top Israeli military officer warned in 2014 that the group is more powerful than any Arab military and ranks as one of the most powerful on Earth.
