An Israeli ground offensive in the Gaza Strip “would force Iran to intervene and trigger a major war in the Middle East” – the Foreign Minister warns of a “major earthquake” if Hezbollah intervenes
- The Iranian hardliner says all hands are on the trigger as Israel prepares for invasion
- Hossein Amirabdollahian told the United Nations that Iran and its Hezbollah proxy would not stand idly by if the attacks continued
- There is an escalation in fighting with Hezbollah on Israel’s northern border
Iran’s foreign minister has privately warned the United Nations that Iran will join the war if Israel invades Gaza.
Hossein Amirabdollahian said the “hands of all parties in the region are on the trigger” and claimed there could only be a few hours left to prevent the conflict from spreading to the Middle East.
He said Iran-backed Hezbollah had played out all war scenarios and was ready to fight as more than 300,000 Israeli reservists gathered on the border of the Palestinian enclave
“Any step the resistance (Hezbollah) takes will trigger a huge earthquake in the Zionist entity,” he told reporters in Beirut.
“I want to warn the war criminals and those who support this organization before it is too late to stop the crimes against civilians in Gaza, because in a few hours it could be too late.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said Iran would intervene unless Israel gave up its attack on Gaza
Hezbollah, which controls Lebanon’s border with Israel, would be Iran’s front-line proxy fighter
The Health Ministry in Gaza said on Sunday that at least 2,670 Palestinians had been killed and more than 9,600 injured in a week of relentless Israeli airstrikes
Hezbollah controls southern Lebanon on Israel’s northern border and has repeatedly exchanged fire with Israeli soldiers since Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack that killed more than 1,400 Israelis.
The Shiite militias fought Israel to a standstill as Ehud Olmert’s government sought to eliminate its threat with a ground invasion in 2006 and campaigned for the destruction of the Jewish state.
They fought alongside Syria’s Bashar Al-Assad government in its brutal civil war and would form Iran’s front line in any war with Israel.
“If the Americans do not want the war to spread in the region, they must control Israel,” Amirabdollahian told Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Friday.
“If the Zionist aggression does not stop, all parties in the region will withdraw.”
Israeli Admiral Daniel Hagari said Hezbollah escalated fighting on the Lebanese border on Sunday but that Israel was prepared to fight on two or more fronts “if necessary.”
Iran has cultivated closer ties with Hamas in recent years as it seeks common ground with the Sunni terror group that controls the Gaza Strip in the face of their common enemy Israel.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said last week that Iran was “largely complicit” in the worst terrorist attack in Israel’s history.
But he said there was still “no concrete evidence that they were knowingly involved in planning or providing resources and training for this very complex series of attacks.”
Amirabdollahian also sought to distance Iran from direct involvement in an attack that would expose the country to direct retaliation, now that two U.S. aircraft carrier fleets have been sent to the eastern Mediterranean.
“The Palestinians’ recent operation was 100 percent Palestinian in nature, as confirmed by the West,” he claimed.
“The Palestinians’ move was a natural response to Netanyahu’s crimes, especially in recent months.”
Hezbollah fighters, pictured during a training exercise in May, have long trained for war against Israel
The fighters fought to a standstill against Israel in southern Lebanon in 2006 and have since gained combat experience alongside Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian civil war
Israeli Admiral Daniel Hagari said Hezbollah escalated fighting on the Lebanese border on Sunday but that Israel was prepared to fight on two or more fronts “if necessary.”
But diplomatic sources said he told Tor Wennesland, the U.N. envoy for the Middle East, that Iran would respond militarily if Israel’s attack on Gaza continued, Fox News reported.
Relentless Israeli air strikes on the enclave continued for a week on Sunday, while Gaza’s health ministry said at least 2,670 Palestinians had been killed and more than 9,600 injured.
An impending ground invasion was reportedly paused for several days because bad weather would have limited air support and concerns about the extensive network of underground defenses that Hamas has fortified for years.
“If Israel decides to invade Gaza, Hamas will turn the city into a cemetery where the occupying soldiers will be buried,” Amirabdollahian told Al Jazeera.