White House: Hezbollah should not capitalize conflict between Israel and Hamas

Hours after Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Lebanon’s militant group, declared that his Iran-backed organization was not afraid of US warships and that “all options” were open for an extension of the conflict into Lebanon, the White House said on Friday that Hezbollah should not attempt to capitalize on the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

In response to Nasrallah’s threat, the National Security Council spokesperson for the White House stated that the US does not want the crisis to spread to Lebanon.

Hezbollah blasted the United States

The leader of the influential Lebanese Shia organization blasted the United States for the Gaza war in his first statement since the fighting between Israel and Hamas terrorists broke out last month. Washington could avert a regional confrontation by stopping its attacks on Palestinian land.

“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 added.

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Nasrallah threatened Israel

In the much awaited address, which was aired as part of an event in the Hezbollah stronghold of Beirut’s southern suburbs, Nasrallah threatened Israel with war if it attacked Lebanon, declaring that “all options are open on our Lebanese front”.

“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.

Fears of a wider conflict have been heightened by the extraordinary October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip, which has resulted in an increase in tit-for-tat exchanges along Lebanon’s southern border, mostly between Israel and Hezbollah, a Palestinian group ally.