On Friday, Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement said that it would be “fully prepared” to join its Palestinian ally Hamas in the war against Israel when the time is right.
Naim Qassem, Hezbollah deputy chief, spoke as Hamas and Israel traded hefty fire for a seventh day after hundreds of Hamas gunmen stormed across the border from Gaza into Israel on Saturday and killed more than 1,300 people, most of them civilians.
Israel has retaliated by bombarding Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip, killing at least 1,900 people, mostly civilians and including more than 600 children, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
“We, as Hezbollah, are contributing to the confrontation and will (continue) to contribute to it within our vision and plan,” Qassem told a pro-Palestinian rally in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
“We are fully prepared, and when the time comes for action, we will take it,” he said.
The official, whose remarks coincided with a visit to Beirut by Iran’s foreign minister, rebuffed calls for Hezbollah to stay out of the war.
Outreach by “major countries, Arab countries, and envoys from the United Nations, directly and indirectly, asking us not to interfere in the battle, will not affect us”, he said, adding: “Hezbollah knows its duties.”
Israel has traded fire with Hezbollah and allied Palestinian factions in Lebanon in recent days.
A Reuters journalist was killed and six others from AFP, Reuters, and Al Jazeera were wounded in southern Lebanon on Friday when they were caught up in cross-border shelling.
Israeli forces had said its troops were “responding with artillery fire towards Lebanese territory” after a blast damaged the border barrier.
In Beirut’s southern suburbs on Friday, more than 1,000 Hezbollah supporters rallied for Gaza, carrying Palestinian flags and banners that read: “May God protect you”.
With addressing the leader of the Shiite Muslim group, they chanted “(Hassan) Nasrallah, strike Tel Aviv.”
Najwa Ali, a Palestinian refugee born in Beirut 57 years ago, was among those taking part in the solidarity rally.
She told AFP, “I have never seen Palestine, but when I go back one day, it will be with my head held high, without an Israeli soldier telling me where to go or what to do.”
Hezbollah said on Monday Israeli strikes killed three of its members, while Palestinian fighters claimed a thwarted infiltration bid.
Israel said on Tuesday it hit Hezbollah observation posts, while Hamas’s armed wing claimed rocket fire.
Hezbollah said on Wednesday that it targeted an Israeli position near the Lebanese village of Dhayra. Retaliatory Israeli fire wounded three people.
