Sébastien Le Belzic (Europe 1 special correspondent in Israel) with AFP // Photo credit: Murtadha Al-Sudani / ANADOLU / Anadolu via AFP
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7:14 p.m., November 3, 2023
His speech was eagerly awaited and it raised fears of an escalation of the conflict, the leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah accused the United States of being “responsible for the ongoing war in Gaza”. He said he did not fear the American fleet in the Mediterranean and that “all options” were open for an expansion of the war.
The leader of pro-Iranian Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, said Friday that he did not fear the American fleet dispatched to the Mediterranean and that “all options” were open for an expansion of the war on the Lebanese front with Israel. In his first speech since the outbreak of conflict by Hamas against Israel on October 7, the leader of the powerful armed movement stressed, however, that if the United States wanted to prevent a regional war, it must quickly “stop the aggression in Gaza.” .
“Israel is just an instrument”
Hassan Nasrallah’s speech was eagerly awaited to find out if he was going to drag Lebanon into the current war. Hezbollah fighters intervened against Israel on the border between the two countries the day after the war with Hamas, but in a measured manner. The leader of Hezbollah violently attacked the United States. “We are ready (to face) your fleet, with which you threaten us,” he assured. He accused the United States of being “entirely responsible for the ongoing war in Gaza”, saying that “Israel is only an instrument”.
“America is preventing the ceasefire and stopping the aggression” in Gaza, he said. However, he stressed to the United States, whose head of diplomacy Antony Blinken is visiting Israel, that “those who want to prevent a regional war must quickly stop the aggression in Gaza.” On the Lebanese front, Hassan Nasrallah affirmed that “we entered the battle since October 8.” He considered that “all options” were on the table and that the possibility of “total war” was “realistic”.
“We tell the enemy who may think of attacking Lebanon or carrying out a preventive operation that it would be the biggest stupidity of their existence,” declared Hassan Nasrallah.