Hezbollah chief tells US ‘we are ready to face your fleet’

AFP | Beirut                                                  

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said yesterday his Iran-backed group was not afraid of US warships and “all options” were open for an expansion of the Israel-Hamas conflict into Lebanon.

In his first speech since war broke out almost four weeks ago between Hamas militants and Israel, the head of the powerful Lebanese Shiite movement said the United States was responsible for the Gaza war and that Washington could prevent a regional conflagration by halting attacks on the Palestinian territory.

“America is entirely responsible for the ongoing war on Gaza and its people, and Israel is simply a tool of execution,” Nasrallah said in a televised broadcast, calling the conflict “decisive”. “Whoever wants to prevent a regional war -- and this is addressed to the Americans -- must quickly stop the aggression on Gaza,” he said.

The United States “impedes a ceasefire and the end of the aggression”, he charged. Since Hamas launched an unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip, Lebanon’s southern border has seen escalating tit-for tat exchanges, mainly between Israel and Hezbollah, an ally of the Palestinian group, stoking fears of a broader conflagration.

“Your fleet in the Mediterranean do not scare us... we are ready to face the fleet you threaten us with,” Nasrallah said, also addressing the United States. “You Americans know well that if there is war in the region, your fleet will be of no use, nor will air combat help. Your interests and your soldiers and your fleet will be the first to pay the price,” Nasrallah said.

In his highly anticipated speech, Nasrallah saluted the “heroic” Hamas, calling the October 7 attacks “100 percent Palestinian” and saying the plan was not disclosed to allies in advance. The Hezbollah chief also praised attacks targeting US bases in the Middle East, after a string of assaults on facilities hosting US troops in Iraq and Syria.

He saluted fighters in Iraq and Yemen “who have entered this blessed battle”. Hezbollah along with armed groups from Iraq, Syria and Yemen are part or a regional “axis of resistance” against Israel, led by Iran.