'The logic of Nasrallah.. is that it is all tied to Gaza': US official

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: The Wall Street Journal
27 Jun 2024 16:29

A senior Biden administration official rejects Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's equation of linking Hezbollah's operations in the North to Gaza, stating, "We frankly, completely reject this logic."

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This picture shows smoke billowing above the Lebanese village of Mays al-Jabal during Israeli bombardment on May 5, 2024. (AFP)

Efforts by the Biden administration to reduce escalating border tensions between "Israel" and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon are encountering significant challenges due to the complexity of reaching a Gaza ceasefire, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing US officials, on Thursday.

The US administration claimed that easing tensions along the northern border cannot depend on achieving an elusive Gaza ceasefire, claiming that it is actively engaged in diplomatic initiatives to address tensions in the North following unsuccessful attempts to negotiate a cessation of hostilities in the South with Hamas, as per the report.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has reiterated that the Resistance movement will continue its attacks against Israeli targets until the war on Gaza ends.

Efforts by the US special envoy Amos Hochstein to fashion an agreement that would include a pullback from the border by Hezbollah has been categorically rejected, the report maintained.

On this issue, a senior Biden administration official told reporters on Wednesday, "The logic of Nasrallah... is that it is all tied to Gaza, and until there is a cease-fire in Gaza, the firing at Israel won’t stop," adding, "We frankly, completely reject this logic."

However, it has become clear to "Israel" that a fight against Hezbollah would be a far tougher task than the war it is waging against Hamas in Gaza, as the Lebanese group is estimated to have amassed an arsenal of more than 150,000 rockets and missiles, some of which could reach Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities, bypassing "Israel’s" anti-air defenses.

David Schenker, who served as the top State Department official for the Middle East during the Trump administration, claimed, “Given concern about the devastating toll of another Hezbollah-Israel war and the possibility that Iran might join in, the Biden administration is making great diplomatic efforts to defer a conflagration that may ultimately be unavoidable.”

“We have a diplomatic process underway,” the senior administration official told reporters. “We’re in fairly intensive consultations with the Israelis, Lebanese, and others.”

Resistance to know no bounds if Lebanon attacked: Sayyed Nasrallah

Last week, Sayyed Nasrallah underlined in a televised speech the substantial role played by the Lebanese support front in the war on Gaza in the face of the Israeli occupation.

"The enemy knows well that we have prepared ourselves for the worst days and knows what awaits it, which is why it has been deterred for the past 8-9 months," Sayyed Nasrallah said.

He emphasized that no location within occupied Palestine was safe from Hezbollah's missiles and drones. "The enemy knows that there will be no place safe from our missiles and drones, and [our attacks] will not consist of random bombing."

Sayyed Nasrallah described the ongoing confrontation as the greatest battle since 1948 with a clear and bright horizon that will change the face of the region and shape its future.

He concluded by reaffirming Hezbollah's steadfastness and readiness to engage in this historic battle until victory. "We affirm the solidity of our position and our readiness to continue this historic, humanitarian, and moral stance until victory," he concluded.

It is worth noting that a day after the Israeli occupation launched its brutal war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, Hezbollah commenced its operations against Israeli military targets and soldiers in support of the Palestinian people in the Strip and their Resistance, linking halting their attacks to the end of the ongoing Israeli aggression.