Hezbollah 'entered the war' a day after Hamas attacked Israel

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said on November 3 that his forces will continue fighting the Israeli army until Hamas wins in Gaza. Nasrallah warned that an attack on Lebanon would be the “most foolish mistake” in Israel’s history.

“What is happening in Gaza today is not just another war; it is a decisive, historic battle whose consequences will shape the future,” Mr. Nasrallah said in a televised speech.

Hezbollah's goal in this battle, he declared, is to “end the aggression” in Gaza and ensure that Hamas “wins” against Israel.

This was Mr. Nasrallah's first statement since Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on October 7. The Hezbollah leader said that his group was not involved in planning the attack, but seized the opportunity to "go to war" the next day.

In the early days of the war, Hezbollah limited its operations to firing rockets and small arms into Israel from Lebanese territory, while the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) responded with artillery and drone strikes. These clashes have increased in frequency and intensity over the past two weeks, and the IDF was put on high alert before Nasrallah’s speech, fearing that the Hezbollah leader would announce a major campaign against the Jewish state.

No such announcement has been made. Nasrallah said his forces have so far contributed to the war by tying up a third of Israel’s combat troops and nearly half of its naval assets near the Lebanese border. This has reduced the number of troops available for a ground operation in Gaza and caused “a state of anxiety, nervousness, panic and fear among the enemy’s political and military leadership,” Nasrallah claimed.

He asserted that Hezbollah was ready to respond to any escalation from Israel, warning West Jerusalem that “if you plan to attack or conduct a military operation against Lebanon, you will be committing the most foolish mistake in the history of existence.” If a larger war breaks out, he warned Washington that “you Americans will pay the price with your ships, planes and soldiers.”

Nasrallah added that “there will be more action” against Israel on multiple fronts in the coming days.

RT said that Israeli officials have also issued similar tough threats to Hezbollah, in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to attack Lebanon with “unimaginable force” if Nasrallah's forces make the “mistake of their lives” by going to war.

Speaking in Tel Aviv shortly after Nasrallah's speech, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that “with regard to Lebanon, with regard to Hezbollah, with regard to Iran – we have been very clear from the beginning that we are determined not to open a second or third front in this conflict.”