US 'alarmed' by Israeli bloodthirst in Lebanon
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This comes as the Israeli occupation claims it prefers diplomacy then turns its back and says it is "getting close to the point where the hourglass will turn over.”
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a cabinet meeting at the "Kirya" military base in "Tel Aviv" on December 24, 2023. (AP)
US President Joe Biden has once again dispatched aides to "Israel" to avert a full-scale war between the Israeli occupation and the Lebanese Resistance Hezbollah.
Israeli media reported this week that the US wants to prevent an escalation that might evolve into a regional war by sending a senior diplomat to occupied Palestine to prevent the Israeli occupation from committing a blunder.
The Israeli KAN public broadcaster said there were talks about US President Joe Biden's special envoy on Israeli-Lebanese issues, Amos Hochstein, going on a trip to occupied Palestine.
Israeli Security Minister Yoav Gallant stated Friday that although the occupation prefers diplomacy, it is "getting close to the point where the hourglass will turn over.”
According to The Washington Post, over a dozen US officials discussed a new classified assessment from the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) anonymously, which found that it would be difficult for "Israel" to succeed in a war against Hezbollah due to its military assets and resources being spread too thin due to the aggression on Gaza.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah warned on Friday that any war waged on Lebanon would be an extremely miscalculated and wrong decision, stressing that any such war on Lebanon would be costly.
In response to recent statements by former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding deterring Hezbollah and the “disappearance of Hezbollah's tent near the Palestinian border,” he emphasized that the past is different from today and that the Resistance today is engaging in a real battle, pointing out how Israeli occupation soldiers near the Lebanese borders “are fleeing like rats.”
Sayyed Nasrallah further explained that the multi-front war the US is facing today, similar to that the Israeli occupation entity is facing, from Iraq to Lebanon and not ending in Yemen, is part of the strategy Gaza’s regional allies adopted to force the US to end the Israeli war on the Strip. The purpose of this strategy is to leave Washington suffering from insecurity and instability in all parts of the region and remind it that deciding not to expand the war does not mean it is an inevitable consequence if the war on Gaza does not stop.
However, Sayyed Nasrallah underlined, in the case of a full-scale war being declared on Lebanon, "We will have no limits, no restrictions, no rules of engagement, or boundaries."
"Whoever might think about going to war with us will regret such a decision. War with us will be tremendously costly," he stressed. "If war is declared against us, national interest will require us to fight the war until the very end."
Blinken dispatched to 'Israel' to avoid escalation
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is scheduled to be in "Israel" on Monday to discuss specific actions to "avoid escalation", according to his spokesperson, Matt Miller, before boarding a flight to the Middle East.
Blinken's fourth trip to the region within three months coincides with heightened tensions following the Israeli assassination of Saleh al-Arouri, the deputy chief of Hamas' political bureau last Tuesday. Additionally, international condemnation of "Israel's" genocide is on the rise as the number of Palestinians killed in the Israeli aggression has neared 23,000, in addition to 58,416 injuries, since October 7, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza.
In brief comments on the Greek island of Crete before his journey to Jordan, Blinken expressed "real concern" regarding the escalation between Lebanon and "Israel".
“We want to do everything possible to make sure that we don’t see escalation there” and to avoid an “endless cycle of violence," Blinken further claimed.
According to a senior administration source, when Israeli authorities first proposed targeting Hezbollah during the early days of the war on Gaza, US officials instantly objected, The Wall Street Journal reported.
According to an official, Biden was worried about "all hell breaking loose" and had phone conversations up to 3 times a day attempting to stop the Israelis.
This Israeli recklessness is still haunting US officials, according to the source. After withdrawing some forces from Gaza, the US official expressed that they have "a freer hand to escalate."
A National Security Council official told The Washington Post that the US was continuing to "explore and exhaust all diplomatic options with our Israeli and Lebanese partners."
According to one senior US source, Netanyahu's commitment to implement "fundamental change" to solve the border issue with Hezbollah is just rhetoric aimed at extracting concessions from the group. Others have said that if the war on Gaza ends, Netanyahu's political career will follow, motivating him to escalate the fight.
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell met with a Hezbollah delegation led by the head of the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc, MP Mohammad Raad, on Saturday, and during his meeting with the Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, Borrell expressed his deep concern about the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip and his "keenness not to let it expand to Lebanon."
Berri said the implementation of Resolution 1701 begins with halting "Israel's" aggression and its withdrawal from the entire Lebanese territory.
Hezbollah releases scenes of milestone strikes on Israeli 'Meron' base
The Islamic Resistance in Lebanon Hezbollah released footage showing the targeting of the strategic Israeli "Meron" air control and surveillance base.
The base, which was struck early Saturday with 62 guided missiles and rockets, is considered the occupation entity's most sensitive and critical headquarters in northern occupied Palestine.
It is responsible for commanding, coordinating, and organizing all aerial operations toward Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Cyprus, and the northern part of the Eastern Mediterranean basin.
This includes cyber warfare, spying, and operating Israeli air and drone strikes. Additionally, it houses top Israeli generals, elite units, and highly specialized officers.
Commenting on the targeting of the "Meron" Base, Israeli media described it as only a "trailer" of what would happen if the party's "multidimensional threats expand."
"The heavy salvo this morning is a trailer of the war situation, during which Hezbollah elements will launch thousands of rockets, focusing on strategic and sensitive locations, such as national infrastructure, military bases, and symbols of authority," Wallah! said.
