Iran threatens to 'obliterate' Israel as Hezbollah strikes northern Israel over the weekend

As diplomatic efforts seem to be failing so far and Hezbollah continues its incessant attacks against northern Israel, the Iranian regime on Friday threatened to join Hezbollah against Israel in the event of an all-out war.

“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,” the regime’s UN mission wrote on 𝕏.

“All options, incl. the full involvement of all Resistance Fronts, are on the table,” it added.

Iran’s so-called “resistance fronts” include its proxy militias, such as Hezbollah, the Yemeni Houthis, and various militias in Syria and Iraq, all of which have taken part in the attacks against Israel since last October.

Also on Friday, Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stressed that while Israel is "not looking for war with Hezbollah" and prefers a diplomatic solution, it is prepared for conflict if necessary.

Meanwhile, the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah continued attacking northern Israel with rocket barrages and drone strikes over the weekend.

Just as Israelis celebrated the start of Shabbat on Friday evening, rocket sirens sounded in several towns in Western Galilee, including Nahariya, Shlomi, Betzet and other surrounding neighborhoods.

The IDF later confirmed three drones evaded the Iron Dome interceptors launched at them and managed to penetrate Israeli air defenses. They exploded in Israeli territory without causing casualties but caused several fires, the army added.

In addition, Hezbollah fired about 25 rockets at areas in Western and Upper Galilee, damaging a building in Betzet and killing two horses, but causing no further damage.

The IDF, in response, shelled the launch areas and carried out several waves of airstrikes across southern Lebanon.

מטוסי קרב תקפו בשעות האחרונות מספר מטרות של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה בדרום לבנון.

בין המטרות שהותקפו, אתר צבאי של חיזבאללה במרחב זבקין, שתי תשתיות מבצעיות במרחבים אל-חיאם וחולא ומבנה צבאי של הארגון במרחב אל-עדייסא pic.twitter.com/nlsBuOrppE

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) June 28, 2024

Israeli troops from the field observer’s Unit 869 spotted a group of Hezbollah operatives gathering in a building in Kfar Kila and quickly alerted the Air Force (IAF), whose fighter jets struck the building.

Another strike targeted a building of Hezbollah’s aerial unit in Jabal Safi, from where surface-to-air missiles had been launched at Israeli aircraft.

Early Saturday morning, the IDF stated it had completed a wave of airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon overnight, including sites in Zabkin, al-Khiam, Houla and al-Adaisa.

כוח מיחידה 869 זיהה לפני זמן קצר מחבלים נכנסים למבנה צבאי של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב חולא שבדרום לבנון.
בסגירת מעגל מהירה, מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר תקפו את המבנה בו שהו המחבלים, לצד מבנה צבאי נוסף של הארגון>> pic.twitter.com/z8Xc76PjUM

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) June 29, 2024

Later in the day, Hezbollah fired two anti-tank missiles at Misgav before Unit 869 again spotted terrorists gathering in a building in Houla and directed airstrike at the target.

Ynet News later spoke to the owners of the horses that were killed in the Hezbollah attack on Friday evening. The family of farmers said their children were shocked by the attack that struck so close to their home.

“The horses, 7-year-old Pansy and the 4-year-old colt Neuman belong to our 14-year-old daughter Shahar. The window of her room faces the horse yard and every time she opened the window, they came to say hello to her,” told Idan Ishach Erez, whose husband Nadav is the third generation in his family to farm in the small community.

The siren began to blare during the family’s Shabbat dinner on their terrace.

“We ran into the house. This is an old house which belonged to Nadav’s grandparents and we don’t have an emergency or a security room. We closed the door, went to an area that is relatively safer and waited for the boom,” said Erez.

“Then came a loud boom,” he added, describing the rocket that fell in the yard right next to their home. The horses were critically wounded and had to be euthanized shortly after.

“While the Israeli government is making supreme efforts to reach a settlement in the north, Nasrallah is once again proving that he is the sovereign. And families who gathered around the Shabbat table were forced to sit in the bunker and in the security rooms,” lamented Moshe Davidovitz, head of the Mateh Asher Regional Council.

Israeli media reported that the United States has bolstered its naval forces in the Eastern Mediterranean this week to prevent the ongoing armed conflict from escalating into an all-out war, which the U.S. reportedly fears could drag the whole region into it.

The U.S. moved the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp to the region this week, with an official confirming, “It’s about deterrence,” the Times of Israel reported.

In Lebanon, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, on the one hand, called for peace and adherence to UN resolutions but also said Hezbollah, which he called “the resistance,” was doing “its duties.”

“We are always advocates of peace, and our choice is the choice of peace and the implementation of UN Resolution 1701. It is incumbent upon Israel to cease its repeated attacks on Lebanon and halt the war in Gaza, with everyone adhering to UN Resolution 2735,” Mikati said as he visited an emergency room in Tyre.

“The resistance is doing its duty, and the Lebanese government is doing its duty, and our goal is to protect the country in every sense of the word,” he added.