IDF spokesperson: Israel ‘concerned’ about war becoming regional conflict

by Lauren Irwin - 10/21/23 3:17 PM ET

Smoke rises from an Israeli army position which was attacked by Hezbollah fighters near Alma al-Shaab, a Lebanese border village with Israel, south Lebanon, Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023. Hamas Palestinian militants in southern Lebanon fired 20 rockets into the northern Israeli towns of Schlomi and Nahariyya, the group said in a statement. They said it was "in response to the (Israeli) occupation's crimes against our people in Gaza". — Hussein Malla/Associated Press
Smoke rises from an Israeli army position which was attacked by Hezbollah fighters near Alma al-Shaab, a Lebanese border village with Israel, south Lebanon, Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023.

Israel Defense Force spokesperson Lt. Colonel Jonathan Conricus said the country is concerned that the war with Hamas will become a larger regional conflict.

“We are concerned, and we urge the state of Lebanon to think twice or maybe 200 times if they really want to jeopardize what’s left of Lebanese sovereignty and prosperity for the sake of a bunch of terrorists in Gaza,” Conricus said in an interview Saturday with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.

The United States State Department urged Americans to make plans to leave Lebanon as soon as possible after demonstrations and violent confrontations erupted in the country amid the war between Israel and Hamas.

Fighting has broken out along the border between Lebanon and Israel, where IDF forces and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah have battled for years.

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Conricus’s message pointed to the battles between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, warning Lebanon to not do the same.

“Because as of now, that’s what Hezbollah is doing, and we strongly urge against it,” he said.

Exchanges of fire along the Lebanon-Israel border have picked up over the last two weeks since Hamas entered Israel in a surprise attack on Oct. 7.

There are concerns that Hezbollah might try to open a new front in the Israel-Hamas war with a large-scale attack on northern Israel. On Friday, the IDF announced the evacuation of a border city where three residents were wounded in the crossfire.

Hezbollah’s deputy leader Sheikh Naim Kassem told Lebanese officials, “we are part of the battle.”

Approximately 1,400 Israelis have been killed in the first two weeks of the conflict in the Middle East, officials said. The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said responding strikes have killed nearly 4,300 Palestinians.