Yet in recent months, Nasrallah has changed his tune, vowing to intervene on behalf of the Palestinians in case Israeli troops attacked “Christian and Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem.” Since then, exchanges of fire between the warring parties have been extremely rare, with Hezbollah repeatedly threatening to strike Israel with its growing arsenal of missiles and rockets only if Israel were to strike Lebanese territory. In 2006, an international war broke out between the two countries that led to over 1,100 dead in Lebanon and over 200 dead in Israel. ![]() Hezbollah has a stronghold in the south of the country which borders Israel. Lebanon and Israel are technically in a state of war. He has also repeatedly alluded to broadening the group’s rules of engagement with Israel to reflect the growing alliance. In his recent televised speeches, Nasrallah said that there was no daylight between his group’s strategic goals and those of his Palestinian militant partners. Marwan Naamani/picture alliance/Getty Images Ismail Haniyeh, center, chairman of the Hamas political bureau, flashes a victory sign, flanked by bodyguards and senior Palestinian officials during a rally at the southern Lebanese port city of Sidon. How Haniyeh, who is based in the blockaded Gaza Strip, was able to travel to Lebanon is still unclear. In April, Hamas’ senior political leader Ismail Haniyeh visited the Lebanese capital for meetings with Nasrallah. ![]() ![]() Just over a month before the surprise attack, the deputy head of the Hamas politburo, Saleh Al-Arouri and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad chief Ziad al-Nakhalah were pictured in Beirut alongside Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah. Therefore Iran is an asset for Hamas and Hamas is an asset for Iran,” Michael said. “Here is the common denominator between the Iran strategy and the Hamas strategy. Kobi Michael, a senior researcher at the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), says he believes that Iran aims to create “a reality of war in order to exhaust Israeli society, in order to exhaust the Israel Defense Forces.” (Much of the Western world and some Arab countries consider Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad to be terrorist groups.) Iran’s paramilitary allies in the region – namely Lebanon’s Shia armed group Hezbollah – have repeatedly boasted about an ironclad security coordination with Palestinian Islamist groups. The US State Department in 2021 said that the group receives funding, weapons, and training from Iran, as well as some funds that are raised in Gulf Arab countries. Israel says Iran supports Hamas to the tune of some $100 million dollars a year. Ultimately it returned to Tehran’s orbit, and has been openly communicating with Iran and its paramilitary allies about its militant goals. Hamas, on the other hand, has had a more ambiguous relationship with Iran, turning against it for several years over its support for Syria’s dictator President Bashar al-Assad during the country’s civil war. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad – a Gaza-based militant group which is smaller than Hamas but a significant fighting force in the coastal enclave – has enjoyed a long and public alliance with Tehran. Yet Iran’s evolving relationship with Hamas and its Palestinian militant partners, the Islamic Jihad, is well documented. It’s something that we’re going to keep looking at closely.” He continued, “What we don’t have is direct information that shows Iranian involvement in ordering or planning of the attacks that took place over the last couple of days. ![]() “What we can be quite clear about is that Iran is broadly complicit in these attacks for having supporting Hamas going back decades,” Finer said during an appearance on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” pointing to weapons, training and other financial support. US still seeking to determine Iran's connection to Israel attack A building is ablaze following rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip, in Tel Aviv, Israel October 7, 2023.
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