Nasrallah Warns Israel: No Place Safe
June 19, 2024, could become a day of marked intention for Israel’s fate, following Hezbollah Chief Hassan Nasrallah’s warning to it in a televised broadcast that “no place” in Israel would be spared in the event of a full-scale war should it attack Lebanon.
What’s dramatically escalating into hostilities of horror, Nasrallah also threatened Cyprus, cautioning that if it opened its airports to Israel, it too would become a part of the conflict. “The enemy knows well that we have prepared ourselves for the worst … and that no place … will be spared our rockets,” Nasrallah said.
He also emphasised that Israel can expect attacks “on land, by sea, and by air,” adding that the resistance’s penetration into Galilee in northern Israel is a real possibility “in the context of a war that could be imposed on Lebanon.”
The already tense relations between Israel and Hezbollah have deteriorated significantly since Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, which triggered the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. Almost daily cross-border exchanges have occurred, escalating in recent weeks, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu keen to escalate hostilities and drag the Middle East into a raging war.
It’s a war Israel cannot win. For Benjamin Netanyahu, the price of death and destruction and a full-scale war, secures his Prime Ministership and helps him avoid corruption charges and going to jail.
Netanyahu is for Netanyahu and not for Israel or the safety of its people, and fullscale war is assured and guaranteed freedom.
Last week, the IDF announced “operational plans for an offensive in Lebanon were approved and validated,” underscoring the growing threat of a broader conflict.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz previously warned of Hezbollah’s destruction in a “total war,” indicating Israel's readiness to respond forcefully. Nasrallah, however, said his group was prepared for any escalation and that Israel should not underestimate Hezbollah’s capabilities.
Furthermore, Nasrallah also drew attention to the possibility Israel might use airports and bases in Cyprus if Hezbollah struck Israeli airports, claiming that if it did, Cyprus would be drawn into the conflict. Cyprus, an EU member which has good relationships with Israel and Lebanon, was warned that opening its facilities to Israel would make it a legitimate target for Hezbollah.
“Opening Cypriot airports and bases to the Israeli enemy to target Lebanon would mean the Cypriot government is part of the war, and the resistance will deal with it as part of the war,” Nasrallah said.
Responding to Nasrallah’s comments, Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides said Cyprus is “in no way involved” in any military operations in the region, condemning Nasrallah’s remarks as an attempt to misrepresent Cyprus’s role and reiterating that Cyprus is recognized internationally as a neutral party involved in humanitarian efforts, such as the Cyprus-Gaza maritime corridor delivering aid to Gaza.
Nasrallah’s comments coincided with the visit of US envoy Amos Hochstein, who called for “urgent” de-escalation during his trip to Lebanon and Israel. Hochstein is known for brokering a maritime border deal between Israel and Lebanon in 2022. He stressed the importance of reducing tensions in the volatile region.
Despite calls for de-escalation, Nasrallah remained defiant, stating, “Everything the enemy says and that the mediators convey, including threats of war on Lebanon … this doesn’t scare us.”
In conjunction with Nasrallah’s address, Hezbollah released a nine-minute video showing aerial footage taken over northern Israel, highlighting sensitive military, defense, and energy facilities in Haifa.
According to Nasrallah, the footage was captured by a drone that “flew for long hours” over Haifa port, warning that Hezbollah had only utilised “a part of” its arsenal since the start of the current conflict and had acquired new weapons and developed existing ones. “We have obtained new weapons,” Nasrallah said, without providing details. “We have developed some of our weapons … and we are keeping others for the days that will come.” He also said Hezbollah’s manpower had significantly increased, far exceeding the 100,000 fighters he mentioned in the past.
Hezbollah also claimed responsibility for several attacks on Israeli troops and positions in northern Israel on Wednesday, announcing the deaths of four of its fighters. The cross-border violence resulted in significant casualties, with at least 478 people killed in Lebanon, most of them fighters, but also 93 civilians. Israeli authorities reported that at least 15 soldiers and 11 civilians had been killed in the country’s north.
The recent developments have escalated tensions to a dangerous level, with potential implications for the entire region. Israel's approval of operational plans for an offensive in Lebanon signals a readiness to engage in a broader conflict, which could have severe consequences for regional stability.
Hezbollah’s threats to target sensitive sites within Israel, coupled with the potential use of new and advanced weaponry, indicate a high level of preparedness and willingness to escalate the conflict further.
The threat to Cyprus, an EU member state, introduces another dimension to the conflict. Cyprus’s strategic location and its relations with both Israel and Lebanon place it in a precarious position. Any involvement in the war could draw in the European Union, leading to a broader international response.
As the violence continues to escalate, the time has come for all Arab nations to issue a collective ultimatum to the United States and urge it to pressure Israel to stand down from its aggressive stance towards Lebanon and Hezbollah as well as stop the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people and withdraw from Gaza.
The Arab states must demand that the US compel Israel to cease its actions, which many see as genocidal, or risk losing the support and cooperation of the entire Middle East.
If the Arab nations do issue an ultimatum to the US, it could mark a significant turning point in the conflict. Collectively, the Arab nations' voice carries substantial weight, and their united stance could compel the US to reassess its position and influence Israel’s actions.
Applying pressure to the US and failing to heed the ultimatum could inevitably lead to a realignment of alliances and a shift in the geopolitical landscape throughout the Middle East, with devastating long-term consequences for US interests in the region.
BRICS, the new trading bloc and threat to US global economic dominance, could see the entire Middle East shift its alliances to the newly formed group.
Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia announced it would not renew its 50-year petrodollar agreement with the US, which had mandated oil sales exclusively in US dollars.
The US must work towards a sustainable resolution or war is imminent.
high regards and erumpent appreciation for your scholarly au-courants regarding the most recent war-mongering machinations of the US/zioisraeli war crimes, and nasrallah's refusal to capitulate, as he has been wont to thus capitulate in the past. our INGO contractor in the hashemite kingdom of jordan [1988~1991], i.e. IUCN~the world conservation union, evacuated me and my children [my husband remained behind in amman] to the island of cyprus, following the demonic US bombing attacks on baghdad and other areas of iraq. in jan.1991. several of those bombs, originating in zioisrael, flew over our heads in ferdous, jordan, one even landing in a field next to our house. propitiously, it was a dud. the irony here is that when our evacuation flight landed in larnaca, the local cypriots immediately took myself and all our children under their protective aegis, asseverating that we would be safe. indeed we were. they fed, clothed, and gave us safe haven for the following 3+ months, first in a monastary village in droucia, then a coastal area near paphos.... just as they had provided shelter and comestibles from 1975~1990 on behalf of the lebanese refugees fleeing to cyprus during their 16-yr-long war that involved the israelis, syrians, and multiple factions of lebanon's civil brigades. to remember what fine, selfless, and heroic people the cypriots were to insure our safety, i cringe in horror to vaticinate what they might soon suffer at the business end of the IDF and its US-supplied weaponry, bombs, and other lethal armamentarium. given that our family was cared for by the cypriots over 33 years ago, i suspect many are now dead, but their children and grandchildren would be extant. last, please allow me to remind you to refrain from designating the present zioisraeli/US genocide of gaza, and increasingly the west bank, as a 'war in gaza'; it is a GENOCIDE, in its purest, most naked, most inarguably categoric manifestation.
No place safe is right! Not only in the Middle East but everywhere. Lunatics who think they can overpower their neighbors may start these things, but its never 2 entities anymore. Maybe it never has been in modern times, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that warmaking now is a threat to the entire human family. It's self-destructive. Humans have become the dumbest creatures on the planet.