Above photo: Reuters/Raheb Homavandi/TIMA.
Iranian and Lebanese officials have stressed that Israel’s growing threats against Lebanon are ‘psychological warfare’.
The permanent mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the UN on 28 June warned that Israel faces an “obliterating war” that could see the “full involvement” of the Resistance Axis if it decides to expand the war against Lebanon.
“Albeit Iran deems as psychological warfare the Zionist regime’s propaganda about intending to attack Lebanon, should it embark on full-scale military aggression, an obliterating war will ensue. All options, incl. the full involvement of all Resistance Fronts, are on the table,” the Iranian mission said via social media.
Albeit Iran deems as psychological warfare the Zionist regime’s propaganda about intending to attack Lebanon, should it embark on full-scale military aggression, an obliterating war will ensue. All options, incl. the full involvement of all Resistance Fronts, are on the table.
— I.R.IRAN Mission to UN, NY (@Iran_UN) June 28, 2024
The statement from the Islamic Republic came a few hours ahead of comments from Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who also called Israeli threats against his nation “a kind of psychological warfare.”
“We are in a state of war, and there are a large number of martyrs and destroyed villages due to the Israeli aggression … The intensity of the psychological warfare is escalating. Still, we will overcome this stage to reach some kind of permanent stability on the borders,” Mikati said on Saturday during a visit to the headquarters of the South Litani Sector of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF).
Since 7 October, Israel has bombed Lebanon over 6,000 times, killing nearly 600 people and displacing 95,000 others. In return, Hezbollah and other resistance factions have launched over 2,000 attacks on sensitive Israeli military targets in the north, emptying over 40 settlements.
Although authorities in Tel Aviv recently intensified threats against Lebanon over Hezbollah’s relentless operations, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant this week said Israel is “not looking for war” and that a diplomatic solution was “preferable.”
“[We are] preparing the military force … and this can happen quickly. On the other hand, the political alternative is being prepared; it is always better,” Gallant told troops on Friday, repeating comments he had made the day before during a security cabinet meeting.
The slight change in rhetoric comes on the heels of reports in Hebrew media that revealed that the losses suffered by the Israeli army in Gaza have significantly diminished its capabilities and that the forces are “not currently ready for a broad campaign in Lebanon.”
“The enemy knows well that we have prepared ourselves for the most difficult days. The enemy knows well what awaits it, and that’s why it has been deterred so far. And it knows that there will be no place in the [country] that would be spared our rockets and drones. And it won’t be indiscriminate bombing: every rocket – a target,” Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah said during a speech last week.
“There is a lot of fear from the enemy that the resistance would invade northern Israel, and this is a standing possibility that remains present in the context of any war imposed on Lebanon,” he added.
POLITICO reported on Thursday that US intelligence agencies believe that “a large-scale confrontation between Israel and Hezbollah is likely to break out in the next several weeks” if a ceasefire deal is not reached between Tel Aviv and Hamas.