The Israeli Air Force (IAF) buzzed Beirut during a speech by Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Iranian-backed terror group Hezbollah, in which he vowed revenge for a wave of pager and walkie-talkie attacks over the previous two days.
The IAF warplanes broke the sound barrier and dropped flares in a show of force that was clearly intended to upstage an embarrass Nasrallah.
Nasrallah was not hurt in the pager attacks, which took place when devices used by senior members of Hezbollah exploded simultaneously, killing more than 20 people and wounding more than 3,000, most of whom were terrorists.
The rotund Hezbollah leader vowed revenge, acknowledging that the terror organization had suffered a heavy blow but vowing to continue fighting Israel, and to thwart Israel’s goal of restoring 60,500 Israeli civilians to their homes.
The civilians were evacuated last October, after Hezbollah began launching rocket, missile, and drone strikes without provocation against Israeli towns in northern Israel, in solidarity with the Hamas terror attack of October 7. Under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the Second Lebanon War of 2006, Hezbollah is not allowed to be near the Israeli border and is required to give up its weapons. The UN has not enforced the resolution.
The Times of Israel reported:
In a televised address, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah concedes that the terror group has suffered a “major and unprecedented” blow, but vows it will recover and keep on fighting
“The Israeli effort has largely been thwarted,” Nasrallah says. “We will probe what happened,” he adds, adding that an investigation committee has been established.
…
“We tell [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, [Defense Minister Yoav] Gallant and the Israeli people: We will not stop our attacks as long as the enemy does not halt its war in Gaza.”
The U.S. has tried to tie a ceasefire in Gaza to a restoration of calm along the Lebanese-Israeli border, since both Hamas and Hezbollah are controlled by Iran. However, there is no indication that Hamas is prepared to accept a ceasefire unless Israel gives up the war and allows the terror organization to regroup.
As Nasrallah spoke, the IAF buzzed Beirut and also began a wave of attacks on Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon. The possibility of avoiding all-out war is quickly diminishing, though Israel has said that it would relent if Hezbollah would agree to abide by UN Security Council Resolution 1701, independent of any commitment on Gaza.
Iran, Hezbollah’s patron, vowed that Israel would be punished by the so-called “axis of resistance,” the term that the Iranian regime uses for its Palestinian, Lebanese, Yemenite, and Iraqi terrorist groups, notwithstanding the fact that the term “axis” evokes the fascist nations that aligned themselves with Nazi Germany in the Second World War.
Two Israeli soldiers were killed on the border on Thursday after Hezbollah fired at their position. Israelis broadly favor a war with Hezbollah to restore security to northern Israel, though such a war could have heavy casualties.
Israel has warned that it will not refrain from attacking targets in Beirut in the event of war.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
