Hezbollah chief: We'll stop raining rockets when this one thing is done
Hezbollah missiles fired from Lebanon into Israel during a March 2024 attack
JERUSALEM – Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said his organization's attack on Israel will cease if Hamas and Israel conclude a ceasefire agreement.
The statement came as both Israeli and Hamas negotiators headed to Doha, Qatar, to try and thrash out a deal to draw a close to nine months of fighting.
Nasrallah boasted the almost daily attacks since Oct. 8 have achieved their aim, namely to "exhaust the enemy materially, financially and mentally."
He was speaking at a memorial service for slain official Mohammed Nasser, whom Israel eliminated in a strike in Lebanon last week. The terrorist leader claimed Israel had been sufficiently distracted from its war with Hamas in Gaza because of the rocket fire across the Lebanon-Israel border.
"We made them understand that if they want it to stop, they must stop the aggression in Gaza," he added.
He said, "Hamas is negotiating on behalf of the entire Axis of Resistance. If there was a breakthrough in the Doha talks, which "results in a ceasefire in Gaza," Hezbollah will also "cease its attacks on Israel without any discussion or negotiation."
Rockets launched by Hezbollah cause havoc in Northern Israel
If the negotiations did not result in a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hamas, Nasrallah warned Hezbollah was ready for and did not fear a war, and pointed to the ever-larger salvos of rockets and drones the group has fired at Israel as evidence.
Meanwhile, senior Hamas official Hossam Badran claimed Israel is "intensifying" its military operations in the Gaza Strip in an attempt to pressure the terror group into a deal. He argued it would fail, and would have the opposite effect of the one intended. Ironically, the threat came on a day when the IDF said it had wrapped up its operations in the eastern Shejaiya neighborhood of Gaza City. Although Israel's military did also warn it would re-enter the area if Hamas – as could be expected – filled the vacuum the withdrawing soldiers would leave. The IDF claimed to have eliminated some 150 terrorists in its operational sweep.
Operational Update from Shejaiya:
- 150+ terrorists eliminated
- 6 terrorist tunnels destroyed
- Booby-trapped buildings dismantled
- Dozens of weapons and intelligence documents foundWhile examining the tunnels, a branched tunnel system was located. In some of the… pic.twitter.com/8qpBHd5Csx
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) July 9, 2024
Long-stalled diplomatic efforts have clicked into a higher gear over the last week or so – and certainly the families of the hostages assess a deal for the return of their loved ones could be on the table. Badran's statement highlights the mixed messaging emanating from Hamas.
While he argued only a complete ceasefire and a total withdrawal of Israeli troops would be acceptable, especially due to the "continuation of massacres," on Sunday, another Hamas official on condition of anonymity told Agence France-Presse the group was ready to discuss a hostage deal even without a "complete" ceasefire.
Any ceasefire, or course, would not be lasting, since according to Hamas' own charter: "The Day of Judgment will not come about until Moslems fight Jews and kill them. Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it."
IDF activity in Lebanon, Syria
Talk of a halt to fighting between Israel and the enemies surrounding it was definitely not on the agenda Wednesday. In southern Lebanon around 9:30 p.m. local time, several Hezbollah operatives were spotted entering a building in Tayr Harfa. A drone belonging to the 228th "Alon" Brigade identified the terrorists, and a short time later a fighter jet struck the target.
כוח צה"ל מצוות הקרב של חטיבה 228 זיהה מוקדם יותר היום באמצעות רחפן, מספר מחבלים של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה אשר נכנסו לאתר צבאי של הארגון במרחב טיר חרפא.
זמן קצר לאחר הזיהוי, מטוסי קרב תקפו את האתר בו זוהו המחבלים>> pic.twitter.com/SOERWYRjFQ— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) July 10, 2024
Earlier on Wednesday, IDF tanks and artillery shelled Syrian army military infrastructure after they were spotted in a demilitarized zone, which formed part of the 1974 ceasefire agreement concluding the Yom Kippur War.
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