Hamas reveals Hezbollah's 'red lines'

A senior Hamas spokesman recently said that Hezbollah will only increase its involvement in the conflict between Israel and Hamas if the Palestinian militant group is completely eliminated in Gaza.

Specifically, on November 13 (local time), Hamas representative in Beirut, Ahmed Abdul Hadi, said that their allied militant group is not yet ready to join the war and will only escalate its activities against Israel in the event that Hamas is completely defeated.

NBC News quoted Ahmed Abdul Hadi as saying: “Now is not the time. The red line for Hezbollah is the complete destruction of the resistance in Gaza.”

While the Israeli military has clashed with Hezbollah fighters across the border with Lebanon several times in recent weeks, the group’s deputy commander, Naim Qassem, said the clashes were merely “aimed at reducing pressure on Gaza.” Other senior officials in the force have declined to say what Hezbollah’s “red lines” for further involvement might be, saying their response would depend on Israel’s actions.

However, speaking on Saturday, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah suggested that the group was finally stepping up its activities, saying there had been an “upgrade” in operations along its front with Israel.

“There has been a quantitative improvement in the number of operations, the scale and number of targets, as well as an increase in the type of weapons,” Nasrallah said, according to Reuters.

RT reported that the Israeli military has warned that Hezbollah would be making a “fatal mistake” if it stepped up attacks on Israeli forces and claimed to have killed nearly 80 of the group’s fighters in recent clashes.

During a visit to Israeli troops over the weekend, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant declared that “Hezbollah is dragging Lebanon into a possible war,” adding: “If mistakes like this are made, the first ones who will pay the price are the Lebanese citizens. What we are doing in Gaza, we know how to do in Beirut.”

The latest conflict in Gaza erupted after a Hamas offensive on October 7, with Israel launching weeks of retaliatory airstrikes and steadily escalating a ground offensive into the Palestinian enclave. According to local officials, about 1,200 people have been killed in Israel and more than 11,000 in Gaza.

Hezbollah and Israel have fought two major wars and a long list of smaller skirmishes since the 1980s. The Israeli army was forced to withdraw from Lebanon after the 2006 conflict. Hezbollah maintains a sizable presence in southern Lebanon and regularly clashes with Israeli forces patrolling the border.