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BEIRUT — The Iran-backed militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah are closely coordinating their next steps in the fight against Israel, a senior Hamas official in Lebanon told POLITICO on Tuesday, just hours after Tehran warned of “preventive measures” against Israel.
Ahmed Abdul-Hadi, head of Hamas’s political bureau in Beirut, stressed that Gaza-based Hamas did not inform its ally Hezbollah in advance of its October 7 attacks on Israel, which killed more than 1,400 people. Still, he described continued cooperation between the two groups, stressing that Hezbollah was now “prepared for a major war” against Israel in the north, while Hamas was crushing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “dream” of driving them out of Gaza would do.
The comments will heighten fears that the Middle East conflict could spill over on two fronts and engulf Lebanon, especially if Israel launches a ground invasion in Gaza, where its bombings have already killed more than 2,700 people, and Tehran commits its allies to The Shiite Hezbollah is waging open war.
“We have very close relations with Hezbollah. “We cooperated with Hezbollah before and after the attack on Israel and are now in full cooperation,” Abdul-Hadi said in an interview in his office in the Mar Elias refugee camp in Beirut, where he was born 55 years ago. A warren of depressing, narrow streets with dilapidated buildings and little sunlight, the camp is the smallest of a dozen camps in Lebanon for Palestinian refugees fleeing the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.
Abdul-Hadi identified an Israeli ground offensive in Gaza as one of the key triggers that could bring Hezbollah fully into the conflict. “Hezbollah will not pay heed to anyone’s threats to enter the war; It ignores warnings to stay away from it. The timing of when Hezbollah wants to enter the war or not depends on Israeli escalation and incidents on the ground, especially if Israel tries to invade the Gaza Strip on the ground,” he said.
Such a move is widely expected – and Israel is bringing its tanks near Gaza. Still, Israeli military spokesman Richard Hecht warned against making assumptions about the next step: “We are preparing for the next phases of the war.” We have not said what they will be. Everyone is talking about the ground offensive. It could be something else.”
Abdul-Hadi emphasized that Hezbollah had already shown in border skirmishes that it would not shy away from fighting. “Hezbollah has said they will not stand aside, and the proof of that is that Hezbollah has attacked along the southern border, and it was at Hezbollah’s initiative – they say they are prepared for a major war,” he said. “Hezbollah has made it clear that it will launch an all-out attack on Israel if the Israelis cross the border.”
Back from the brink
The big question is whether the parties can still overcome the abyss. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has led intensive Western diplomatic efforts to stop the spread of war. President Joe Biden will join the effort with meetings with Arab leaders in Jordan while he visits Israel to show solidarity with the country after the Hamas attack, the worst in its history.
Rocket and artillery battles along the Lebanese border shortly after Hamas’ terror attack on Israel were initially limited in scope but killed several people, including Portal videographer Issam Abdallah.
But in the last three days, attacks have intensified, with Iran and Hezbollah warning of possible “preventive measures” against Israel. On Monday, Hezbollah claimed its fighters attacked five Israeli border posts, causing casualties. The group also claimed the same day that its fighters had destroyed an Israeli Merkava tank near Dhahira and released a video of the alleged hit. Hezbollah said on Monday four of its fighters were killed in a cross-border exchange.
Two armed men stood near Abdul-Hadi’s “political office,” guarding the military office in the camp. When asked for their opinion on Hamas’ attack on Israel, they remained silent and unfriendly.
But others in the camp made it clear they supported Hamas, including a former fighter for the Palestine Liberation Organization, Hamas’ rival.
A Palestinian woman was injured in an Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza Mahmoud Hams/AFP via Getty Images
“If there was war, I would welcome it and would be willing to help Hamas,” said 61-year-old Shain, a fighter from 1978 to 1990. “I think Hamas must have been preparing this operation for a very long time and played it well and deceived the Israelis.”
Civilians and hostages
Throughout the interview, Abdul-Hadi remained uncompromising, emphasizing, among other things, that Hamas “never killed civilians” in the unprecedented attack on southern Israel more than a week ago, despite ample evidence to the contrary that women, children and the elderly were killed were slaughtered. Hamas militants themselves uploaded footage of killings during the attack.
Abdul-Hadi dismissed claims that any civilians were killed by Hamas as “Israeli propaganda, which the West unfortunately accepts and which is used to divert attention from the Israelis who are killing thousands of civilians in the Gaza Strip.”
His comments echo those of other senior Hamas officials who have launched a public relations offensive to keep Hamas away from killing civilians. However, there were inconsistencies in their explanations.
While Abdul-Hadi denied that any civilians had been killed, Hamas’ international relations chief Basem Naim said on Tuesday that Hamas militants were given clear orders not to attack civilians when the militants attacked southern Israel on October 7 . However, he did not deny that killings occurred there and told Australia’s ABC television that others were to blame. “There are other Palestinian groups that became part of the operation, even ordinary people, when they saw that the prison around Gaza was destroyed and the siege was open,” he said.
On the issue of hostages, Abdul-Hadi said that Hamas had not completed negotiations on Israeli prisoners. “But we have to get something in return,” he added. “The Hamas leadership is thinking about how to negotiate with third countries. But will Israel stop killing people in Gaza if we release some of the prisoners? I don’t believe that.” For the release of all prisoners, he demanded: “Israel must stop the attacks on Gaza and lift the siege.”
“Captured Israeli soldiers are not on the negotiating table – they will only be considered after the end of the war and require the release of the 6,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons,” he added.
Abdul-Hadi said Hamas had no choice but to attack. “The Israeli government tried to liquidate the Palestinian cause and that is why we had to act and that is why the attack took place and has now turned the tables on the enemy and ushered in a new era for the Palestinian cause,” he added.
Despite close cooperation with Hezbollah, Abdul-Hadi insisted that the October 7 attack was entirely the work of Hamas.
“This operation was organized by Al-Qassam Brigades [the military wing of Hamas] and later other Palestinian organizations joined the operation. This was a purely Palestinian mission – its planning and execution. Not even our loyal allies knew what was coming,” he said.
France’s Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said during a visit to Beirut on Monday: “Lebanese officials have a responsibility… to do everything possible to prevent Lebanon from being drawn into a spiral.”
But Lebanon’s interim government has very limited influence, and Prime Minister Najib Mikati admitted on Lebanese television last week that Hezbollah had given him no assurances about whether or not it would enter the Gaza war.
Adding to the growing tensions, Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned on Tuesday that “no one can stop the Muslims and resistance forces if Israel does not stop bombing Gaza.”