Iran's UN mission threatens that if Israel launches a Lebanese attack,
Israeli FM responded: "A regime that threatens to undermine should be destroyed"; U.S. officials have warned that a full-scale conflict could erupt "with little notice."
Iran's Ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Said Mousaviwani, addresses the United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations headquarters in New York on February 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
Iran's mission to the United Nations said Friday that if Israel launches "all-out military aggression" against Allah in Lebanon, "a devastating war will ensue."
Amid escalating tensions along the Lebanese border, the IDF attacked several Allah positions in response to the latest attack on northern Israel by Iranian-backed terrorist groups hours earlier.
Iran's UN Mission wrote on X Friday that if Israel were to wage war against Allah, "all options, including the full participation of all resistance fronts, are on the table." ”
Israeli Foreign Minister Katz responded on TV X Saturday: "If Allah does not stop firing and does not withdraw from southern Lebanon, we will fight Allah with all our might until security is restored and residents can return to their homes." ”
He also said that "a regime that threatens to destroy should be destroyed." ”
Iran's "axis of resistance," which includes Allah, Hamas, Yemen's Houthis and other groups in Syria and Iraq, has targeted Israel since Oct. 7, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, triggering the Gaza war.
Iran itself launched an unprecedented missile and drone attack on Israel on April 14, two weeks after it allegedly launched an airstrike near the Tehran embassy in Damascus, killing several senior IRGC officers. The Iranian attack was almost completely repelled by Israel, the United States and other allies, although a 7-year-old girl was seriously injured in the attack.
Shortly after the October 7 massacre by Hamas, Israel withdrew from much of the north, fearing a similar attack by Allah, Iran's proxy in Lebanon. Some 60,000 residents of northern Israel remain displaced as the country attempts to remove terrorist groups from its northern border.
So far, U.S.-led diplomatic efforts have failed to get the terrorist group Accord UN Council Resolution 1701 to retreat beyond the Litani River — about 30 kilometers (19 miles) north of the Israeli border — ending the 2006 Israeli-Allah conflict.
Tensions between Israel and Allah have been steadily rising, with a U.S. official saying Thursday in Politico that the risk of war was higher than it had been weeks earlier. According to the official, a major attack by either side could provoke a war, which could happen with "little notice."
In a June 19 speech, Allah leader Hassan Nasrallah said that "anywhere" in Israel would not be spared from the group's weapons in the event of a full-scale war, adding that Allah would fight "without rules" and "without caps."
He also threatened Cyprus with allowing Israel to use its territory for military exercises and appeared to threaten Israel's offshore gas rigs, saying Israel "knows that what awaits it in the Mediterranean Sea is also very large."
Allah leader Hassan Nasrallah speaks during a ceremony to commemorate a slain senior Allah commander on June 19, 2024. (Screenshot)
Speaking at a ceremony in honor of Taleb Abdullah, senior commander of Allah, Nasrallah said the Shiite terrorist group did not want "all-out war" and was only supporting Hamas. Abdullah was killed by Israel in an airstrike a week ago.
"We will continue to support Gaza, we are ready for everything. We are not afraid," Nasrallah said. "Our demands are clear: a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire in Gaza."
Israeli security leaders have also said they prefer to resolve the conflict diplomatically, but are preparing troops in case war becomes necessary.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant talks with troops at the Iron Dome Battery in northern Israel on July 28, 2024. (Shachar Yurman/Ministry of Defense)
Israeli Defense Minister Yoaf Galant said Israel "does not seek war" in a speech to troops at an Iron Dome anti-aircraft battery in northern Israel on Friday
"(We) are preparing military forces...... This can happen very quickly. On the other hand, a political alternative is being prepared, and it's always better," Grant said.