Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned on Monday that any Israeli attack on Lebanese soil would meet “inevitable retaliation” by the Shi’ite terrorist group.
The statement was made prior to the Israel Defense Forces’ announcement on Tuesday that it has launched an operation seeking to thwart Hezbollah tunnels used for terror operations running under the Israel-Lebanon border.
Last Thursday, Hezbollah released a video warning Israel against striking Lebanon, featuring aerial footage of strategic targets in Israel, including the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv. The footage was captioned: “If you strike, you will regret it.”
Hezbollah is believed to be in possession of 150,000 missiles, which Nasrallah has repeatedly boasted can hit virtually anywhere in Israel.
Recent days have seen Lebanese’s media speculate that Israel was preparing to target Hezbollah infrastructure as well as Iranian assets in the country, given intelligence indicating that Iran has been delivering advanced weapons and equipment directly to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
These speculations were further fueled by reports of an urgent meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Brussels on Monday, where the two discussed “regional developments.”
Israel media reported that Netanyahu was poised to ask Pompeo for America’s support in the event of an Israeli strike on Hezbollah infrastructure in Lebanon.