Israeli defense spokesman warns Hezbollah of ‘very severe consequences if they decide to chime in’

by Nick Robertson - 10/10/23 10:05 AM ET

(AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
The fens of an Israeli military position is seen damaged after Hezbollah’s rocket attacks, on an occupied hill of Kfar Chouba village, southeast Lebanon, Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023. Israeli soldiers battled Hamas fighters in the streets of Israel’s south on Sunday and exchanged strikes with Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group in the north, while Israel’s retaliation strikes leveled buildings in Gaza. The prospect of Hezbollah joining the fighting a day after an unprecedented surprise attack from Gaza raised the chances of a broader conflict.

An Israeli military spokesperson warned of “very severe consequences” if Hezbollah joins in the escalating conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

“I would advise Hezbollah, look very carefully at what’s happening in Gaza today against Hamas,” spokesman Peter Lerner said in a CNN interview Tuesday. “There will be very severe consequences if they decide to chime in.”

The ongoing fighting in Israel and Gaza, which began early Saturday, has killed at least 1,600 people on both sides of the conflict and injured thousands more.

Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group based in Lebanon, frequently skirmishes with Israeli forces. Those skirmishes have continued amid the Gaza conflict, as Israel and Hezbollah have traded artillery and missile barrages over recent days.

The group launched a strike on Israel on Monday after it claimed an Israeli helicopter raid killed three of its members in Lebanon.

The rising tensions between Israel and Hezbollah — which was founded in response to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 — have fueled fears about a second front in the country’s conflict with Hamas.

Israel ramped up its aerial strikes on Gaza overnight, destroying entire neighborhoods in Gaza City. Medical supplies are running out in the territory as nearly 200,000 people have been displaced, according to the U.N.

Lerner said the Israeli military is planning for a ground invasion of Gaza.

“We are making the preparations to take this to the next step,” he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to completely wipe out Hamas, a goal that has the backing of the country’s Western allies, including the U.S.

“All of the places which Hamas is deployed, hiding and operating in, that wicked city, we will turn them into rubble,” Netanyahu said. “I say to the residents of Gaza: Leave now because we will operate forcefully everywhere.”