By Julia Kassem
Since the Lebanese resistance movement warned to join the war in the event of the Israeli regime moving ahead with its ambitious plan of ‘ground invasion’, both Israelis and Americans have been forced to sit back and consider different scenarios and consequences of the foolhardy, risky adventure.
US President Joe Biden, according to a report in Axios, was “particularly concerned” in his meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv that Hezbollah “would decide to join the war”, which would “increase the odds of a broader conflict” in the West Asia region.
Amid the war rhetoric in the power corridors of Tel Aviv and Washington, one question everyone seems to be asking is: how would the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement react if the war expands?
Headlines in the Western and Zionist media in recent weeks point to the importance of Hezbollah and how the movement can damage the calculations of the Zionist enemy in the event of ground offensive.
“Where’s Nasrallah? Hezbollah leader silent among Gaza attacks,” asked Middle East Eye. “Nasrallah remains silent while thousands flee South Lebanon,” wrote Israeli Ynetnews. “Hassan Nasrallah’s ominous silence in Lebanon,” wrote Jewish News Syndicate.
What these headlines reveal is the desperation in the occupying regime to come out of the confusion it finds itself in and to get a sense of what lies ahead for it from Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s speech.
The US has been urging Tel Aviv to hold back and delay the ground offensive, and the regime has so far obliged, primarily due to its own compulsions and the need for US reinforcements.
The Palestinian resistance, already gaining the upper hand in terms of strategy, strength, and might, has demonstrated that the ground offensive will be a costly proposition. It has prevented the much-hyped Merkava tanks from even entering the Gaza borders at Khan Yunus and Rafah – destroying them.
On October 25, Hezbollah leader announced that 41 soldiers of the group who were martyred in post-October 7 battles with the Zionist enemy were ‘Martyrs in the path of Al-Quds’, setting the tone for what lies ahead – the complete liberation of the Al-Quds from the Zionist occupation.
Hinting at the ultimate endgame of the current battle as the liberation of Palestine, the announcement has opened a new stage in the objectives of the Resistance Axis with greater conviction and resolve.
Though a speech is yet to be made, Hassan Nasrallah’s actions have been louder than any speech - desecuritizing the border, causing 40+ settlements within 5 km of the Lebanese border to evacuate, hitting every target with 20 mortar attacks, more than 70 AGTM launches, and over a dozen tanked Merkavas. These actions have spoken louder than words, but much more is yet to come.
The discourse around Hezbollah’s involvement in the war misses the point that all weaponry of the Axis of Resistance is employed with careful coordination and strategy.
On October 18, Biden warned Hezbollah against joining the war, terrified of the existential threat Hezbollah poses to the regime that is in reality a tinder box. This existential threat to the occupation prompted Biden to also advise his allies in Tel Aviv to not make any hasty, imprudent move.
While Hezbollah has engaged in limited battles against the Zionist entity from the North in recent weeks, basically aimed at distracting and confusing the enemy that is weaker than Spider’s Web, it has so far allowed the Palestinian resistance to manage the overall situation on the frontline.
Hezbollah has spun the Zionist entity around in a knot from the threads of its own weak web in the North - enough to increase the confusion and distraction without creating an escalation.
What the Zionist entity seems to be begging for is a response on its quickly ticking watch, a sign, an answer, a step in its plan to be watched, observed, and recorded.
The tactic of strategic patience, which US think tank The Washington Institute described as an "Enduring Challenge for the Biden Administration" - is derived from its Islamic root concept (patience) to be just as much of a political strategy in struggle as it is a personal struggle through one's personal trials.
Considering this, Washington-based war hawks are far from being good planners. The resistance, with his strategy and patience, holds the key here. And this battle will also end as the resistance plans.
Julia Kassem is a freelance writer, having contributed to Detroit's own Riverwise, Against the Current, and nationally syndicated outlets such as Counterpunch, Mintpressnews, and TruthOut.
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