By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

The armed group’s deputy leader still warned that it is unclear how Hezbollah would react if no formal ceasefire is reached. 

The only way to stop the escalation on the Israeli-Lebanese border is for Israel to end its genocidal war against Gaza, the deputy leader of the Lebanese group Hezbollah, Sheikh Naim Kassem, told the Associated Press on Tuesday.

Since early on in the conflict, Hezbollah, a powerful Lebanese political movement with an equally powerful military force, has waged a limited campaign of tit-for-tat drone and missile strikes on northern Israel and Israel-occupied Lebanese territories. 

“If there is a ceasefire in Gaza, we will stop without any discussion,” Kassem told AP on Tuesday.

US Intelligence Indicates Israel and Hezbollah Closer to War – Report 

He also described the actions of his group as a “support front” for Hamas, adding that if the conflict in Gaza stops “this military support will no longer exist.”

The armed group’s deputy leader still warned that it is unclear how Hezbollah would react if no formal ceasefire is reached. “If what happens in Gaza is a mix between ceasefire and no ceasefire, war and no war, we can’t answer (how we would react),” Kassem said.

He still doubted that Israel had sufficient forces to wage a full-blown war against Hezbollah. 

Kassem had also warned that a conflict between Israel and Hezbollah could lead to a bigger war. “If Israel wages the war, it means it doesn’t control its extent or who enters into it,” he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced last month that he would pull some of his occupation army forces out of Gaza and move them to the Lebanese border. 

‘Ceasefire Now’ – Israeli Generals Reveal Extent of Army Crisis in Gaza

Washington reportedly warned Israel against starting even a “limited war” in Lebanon, while Iran had declared that it would “support Hezbollah by all means” in such a conflict.

The deteriorating situation has also drawn the attention of the UN. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned last month that “one miscalculation… could trigger a catastrophe that goes far beyond the border, and frankly, beyond imagination.”

Gaza Genocide

Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7. 

 According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 37,925 Palestinians have been killed, and 87,141 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.

Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip. 

Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’. 

Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.

The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.  

The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.

Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.

(The Palestine Chronicle)