In addition to claiming the entire blame for the aerial attack on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s vacation house, Lebanon’s Hezbollah organization declared on Tuesday that no talks would take place as long as hostilities with Israel persisted.
At a news conference in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Mohammad Afif, stated that the group “takes full and sole responsibility” for the attack on Netanyahu’s home. He said it’s true that our weapons failed to touch you earlier time, but combat are still separating us.
Israel said that on Saturday, an aerial vehicle was fired at Netanyahu’s vacation house. Although he wasn’t present, Netanyahu termed it a “serious error” and characterized it as an attempt on his life. For the first time since it began a ground attack in south Lebanon, Hezbollah also admitted that Israel had taken several of its men and blamed Israel for their safety.
According to Afif, Hezbollah had nearly taken Israeli soldiers but had not yet done so. He also declared that it won’t be long until we’ve captured hostages from our foes (Israel). Additionally, even after Israel hit the group with some 30 strikes on Sunday, he claimed that the Al-Qard Al-Hassan Association was engaged in funding Hezbollah wages or weaponry and that it would fulfill its commitments to clients in full. Hezbollah disputes claim made by Israel and the United States that it uses Al-Qard Al-Hassan, which has more than 30 locations around Lebanon, for money laundering.
On October 8, 2023, Hezbollah launched its most recent assaults on Israel in an attempt to impede Israel’s military operations in the Gaza Strip. At first, Najib Mikati, Lebanon’s acting prime minister, warned against “adventurism,” but other members of the administration said very nothing about the assaults.
The Gradual Increase in Hezbollah’s Assaults
After Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah stated on January 5 that his group’s attacks were an “opportunity” for “Lebanon… to liberate every inch of our Lebanese land” along thirteen points of contention on the Blue Line. Mikati and other high-ranking government officials quickly changed their support to cautious support. Within days, Mikati was lauding Hezbollah’s intelligence and describing its assaults on Israel as self-defence before formally endorsing the nation’s ceasefire.
Therefore, diplomatic attempts to stop Lebanon from playing with fire have failed. The Lebanese government appears to think that as international pressure to halt Hezbollah’s assaults increases, it will be granted better conditions.
The fact that Western donors have allegedly expressed a desire to “sweeten the deal” by funding Lebanon’s faltering economy only serves to confirm Beirut’s conviction that this extortion would eventually be paid off. Hezbollah could possibly think that Washington’s desire to prevent another big conflict from starting works to its advantage.
