Hamas and Hezbollah, pro-Iranian groups, are “closely coordinating their next steps” in the fight against Israel, a senior Hamas representative in Lebanon said, quoted on Wednesday by the news website Politico.
The head of Hamas’s political bureau in Lebanon, Ahmed Abdul-Hadi, admitted the opening of a second front in the conflict with Israel and stated that the Lebanese Shia movement Hezbollah is “prepared for a big war”, after the opening of the fight against Israel. 7th of this month with the Hamas attack on Israel.
However, Abdul-Hadi stressed that Hamas, a movement considered terrorist by the European Union (EU) and the United States and which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007, did not warn its ally Hezbollah in advance about the attacks on Israel in October. 7, killing more than 1,400 people.
Despite this, he revealed, there is “continued cooperation” between the two groups, with Hezbollah now “prepared for a major war” against Israel in the north, while Hamas will destroy Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “dream”. to drive him out of Gaza.
The statements heighten fears that the Middle East conflict could spread to two fronts and engulf Lebanon, especially if Israel launches a ground invasion of Gaza, where bombings have already killed more than 2,700 people, and Tehran’s Shiite Hezbollah allies into all-out war.
“We have very strong relations with Hezbollah. We worked with Hezbollah before and after the attack on Israel and now we are fully cooperating,” Abdul-Hadi said in an interview at his office in the Mar Elias refugee camp in Beirut, where he was born 55 years ago.
Abdul-Hadi cited the Israeli ground offensive in Gaza as one of the key factors that could push Hezbollah to fully participate in the conflict.
“Hezbollah will not pay attention to threats from anyone against its participation in the war and will ignore warnings not to become involved. “Whether or not Hezbollah wants to participate in the war will be related to the Israeli escalation and incidents on the ground, especially if Israel tries to enter Gaza,” he stressed.
Such a move is widely expected, at a time when Israel is deploying armored vehicles near Gaza. However, Israeli military spokesman Richard Hecht cautioned against making assumptions about the next step.
“We are preparing for the next phases. We haven’t said yet what they will be. Everyone is talking about the land offensive. It could be something else,” he said.
Abdul-Hadi emphasized that Hezbollah has already shown in border skirmishes that it will not shy away from fighting.
“Hezbollah has said it will not stand aside and the proof of this is that it has attacked on its own initiative along the southern border. They say they are prepared for a big war. Hezbollah has made it clear that if the Israelis cross the line it will launch an all-out attack on Israel,” Abdul-Hadi added.
Rocket and artillery clashes along the Lebanese border shortly after Hamas launched its terrorist attack on Israel were initially limited in scope, although several people were killed, including Issam Abdallah, a visual reporter for the British news agency Reuters.
However, the attacks have intensified over the past three days, amid warnings from Iran and Hezbollah of possible “preemptive” action against Israel.
Adding to tensions, Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned on Tuesday that if Israel does not stop bombing Gaza, “no one can stop Muslims and resistance forces.”
In the interview with Politico, Ahmed Abdul-Hadi remained “uncompromising” in defending his position, despite ample documented evidence to the contrary, according to which women, children and the elderly were slaughtered in the attack on Israel.
His comments echo those of other senior Hamas officials, who have controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007, who have mounted a public relations offensive to distance Hamas from the civilian deaths.
But according to Politico, there were inconsistencies in their statements.
Hamas’s head of international relations, Basem Naim, said on Tuesday that the movement’s fighters were given clear orders not to attack civilians when the militants attacked southern Israel. However, he has now denied the existence of any deaths, telling Australian television ABC that “other groups” were to blame.
Regarding the hostage issue, Abdul-Hadi said Hamas has not closed the door to negotiations over Israeli prisoners. “But we have to get something in return,” he said.
“The captured Israeli soldiers are not at the negotiating table. They will only be after the war is over and after the demand for the release of the 6,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons has been met,” he added.
In this sense, Abdul-Hadi said Hamas had no choice but to attack.
“This operation was organized by the Al-Qassam Brigades [a ala militar do Hamas] and later other Palestinian organizations joined the operation. It was a purely Palestinian mission, both in planning and execution. Even our loyal allies did not know what was going to happen,” he concluded.
Source: DN
