Hezbollah’s Nasrallah to break silence as Lebanon border skirmishes intensify

Lebanon’s Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Friday, November 3, will break weeks of silence since Hamas’s deadly onslaught sparked war with Israel last month, in a speech by the head of the Iran-backed terror group that could impact the region.

Nasrallah’s highly anticipated speech will be broadcast as part of an event in Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, at 3:00 pm (1300 GMT) on Friday, in memory of the terrorists killed in Israeli strikes, The Times of Israel reports.

After Hamas terrorists launched an unprecedented October 7 onslaught inside Israel by bursting through the Gaza border, killing over 1,400 people — most of them civilians, slaughtered amid brutal atrocities — and abducting over 240 to Gaza, Lebanon’s southern border has seen escalating exchanges of fire, mainly between Israel and Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas, stoking fears of a broader conflagration.

The cross-border attacks heated up Thursday, as Israel responded with a “broad assault” after Hezbollah claimed to have attacked 19 Israeli positions simultaneously.

Additionally, an Iranian-sponsored militia originally deployed to Syria began bolstering Hezbollah.

The flare-up came after several days of relative quiet on the northern border, which has seen tensions heat up amid attempts by Hezbollah and allied groups to put pressure on Israel’s military as it advances a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has warned that “the region is like a powder keg” and that “anything is possible” if Israel does not stop its offensive, which Israel says is aimed at destroying Hamas while seeking to minimize civilian casualties.

US President Joe Biden has sent two aircraft carrier groups to the eastern Mediterranean and warned Hezbollah and others to stay out of the conflict.

“We’ve got significant national security interests at play here,” US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.

“I don’t believe we’ve seen any indication yet specifically that Hezbollah is ready to go in full force. So we’ll see what [Nasrallah] has to say.”