Iran Meets With Hezbollah, Issues Warning to Israel

Iran's foreign minister, who met Saturday with Hamas and Hezbollah leaders, has warned Israel that the offensive in Gaza risks widening the war with Hamas—an escalation that "will cause a huge earthquake." Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told a UN envoy that Iran doesn't want a regional war but said his country will intervene if Israel presses ahead with a ground invasion of Gaza. The envoy relayed the message to top Israeli officials, Axios reports. Indirect intervention by Iran, such as backing the involvement of Lebanon's Hezbollah in the fighting, could similarly make the war regional.

Amirabdollahian told reporters in Beirut that Hezbollah has prepared various scenarios for its intervention. "Any step the resistance (Hezbollah) will take will cause a huge earthquake in the Zionist entity," he said, per Politico. Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged strikes in recent days along the Lebanon border. Israel estimates that Hezbollah has 150,000 rockets and missiles at its disposal, some of which are capable of striking anywhere in Israel. Amirabdollahian said Israel must stop its attacks on the Gaza Strip. "If these organized war crimes that are committed by the Zionist entity don't stop immediately, then we can imagine any possibility," he said, per the AP. (More Israel-Hamas war stories.)