Hezbollah legislator accuses Netanyahu of trying to ‘drag the Americans’ into Mideast war

Geoff Bennett:

The Israeli airstrike on a senior Hezbollah leader yesterday came after 10 months of low-level conflict between the militants and Israel.

For insights into Hezbollah's military and political influence, special correspondent Simona Foltyn recently traveled to its southern Beirut stronghold, beginning at the funeral of another Hezbollah commander assassinated by Israeli forces.

Simona Foltyn:

Even without an invasion, Hezbollah and Israel are already at war.

Hezbollah has buried some 350 operatives since October. That's more than in 2006, when Israel last invaded. The death toll includes senior commanders like Mohammad Nasser, who was killed in an Israeli drone strike at the beginning of July.

Sheikh Adballah, Hezbollah Supporter:

He is the one of the icons of the resistance.

Simona Foltyn:

The funeral is in Dahiye, Hezbollah's Southern Beirut stronghold.

Sheikh Adballah is a Hezbollah supporter and didn't want to give his full name.

What kind of impact do you think an assassination of such a senior commander has on the organization of Hezbollah?

Sheikh Adballah:

It's not going to change anything. Those people, they believe that martyrdom is the way of the life. He died as a martyr, so he's still alive. And his blood is going to awaken all the people to see whatever the oppression is happening on Gaza, on Palestine, because the people there are suffering.

Families has been wiped out. Children have been killed, parts and pieces of humans in front of our TVs, and nobody's moving, nobody's saying anything.

Simona Foltyn:

It was Hezbollah that started this round of fighting to show support for its ally Hamas. And it will only stop when there's a cease-fire in Gaza.

These targeted assassinations have not deterred Hezbollah, nor do they seem to have impeded its ability to carry out operations. Quite to the contrary, each strike prompts a counterstrike. And it's this gradual escalation that risks pushing the two sides to all-out war.

To discuss the conflict, I sat down with Ibrahim Moussawi, a member of Parliament for Hezbollah's political wing.

There is concern in the region and internationally that Lebanon and Israel could slide into another all-out war. How likely do you think it is at this stage?

Ibrahim Moussawi, Lebanese Parliament Member:

The possibility is always there. I don't want to say that — deny that there is a possibility to happen. Maybe Netanyahu himself wants this, because he wants to drag the Americans to the Middle East, a quagmire.

But I believe the Israeli military is not ready for that. The international community, the United States does not want that. And we don't want an all-out war from our side.

Simona Foltyn:

At the same time, there's no viable path to peace. While Hezbollah insists on a cease-fire in Gaza, Israel wants a buffer zone on its northern border. President Biden's envoy, Amos Hochstein, has tried to bridge the divide and broker a deal as part of which Hezbollah would pull back from the border.

Under what conditions would Hezbollah accept such a proposal?

Ibrahim Moussawi:

It's — first of all, the United States is not an honest broker or mediator, to suggest the American administration is a full partner with the — all of the genocide that is taking place in Gaza and with all of the aggressions that are taking place in Lebanon.

We still have lands that are occupied by the Israelis. It's the same cause, it's the same enemy, it's the same occupation and the same hostilities. The first thing that should happen, they should make a cease-fire, they should stop the Israeli killing machine. And after that, when the cease-fire is enacted there, it will be enacted here.

Simona Foltyn:

Hezbollah knows Lebanon cannot afford all-out war. The country has been crippled by an economic and financial crisis for years, with many Lebanese already struggling to make ends meet.

You're a Lebanese group. Your responsibility is primarily to the Lebanese people. And there are many Lebanese who believe that this is not Lebanon's war, that Lebanon has plenty of other problems.

Ibrahim Moussawi:

The majority of the Lebanese, they support. What we're doing now is a defensive war against the Israeli aggression, as part of our land is under occupation. And when we come to defend ourselves, they want to hold us responsible and to make the calculations.

If the international community addressed this properly, you wouldn't have seen any kind of resistance.

Simona Foltyn:

A cease-fire in Gaza could provide an off-ramp, but it wouldn't address the roots of this long-running conflict. The border between Lebanon and Israel was never demarcated.Both sides lay claim to 14 disputed areas. This latest war has further deepened animosities.

Ibrahim Moussawi:

But we do not recognize Israel. When you say Israel, Israel is an occupying force. It is a kind of a cancerous existence that has been installed into the body of the region.

We will never recognize Israel as a normal entity here. We are in a war of liberation to our land. The Palestinians is in a war of liberation to their land. And this is something that will continue as long as this occupation, as long as the hostility continues.

Simona Foltyn:

Previous attempts to mend the rifts have failed. According to a 2006 U.N. resolution, Hezbollah was to hand over border security to the Lebanese army, which was never implemented.

Would you agree with me that Hezbollah has not complied with Resolution 1701?

Ibrahim Moussawi:

We believe we have complied with everything that would respect our sovereignty, that would defend our people, that would keep our land intact.

Simona Foltyn:

Hezbollah is deeply embedded in Lebanon's south.

Moussawi says that international calls to remove its fighters are implausible.

Ibrahim Moussawi:

The Hezbollah fighters are the sons of the families that are living there in the villages. You see? So, if there hadn't been an attack or hostility, you wouldn't have seen the sons and the fathers and the brothers coming to fight the occupation.

Simona Foltyn:

And it's the people of the south who are once again bearing the brunt. All along the border, villages have been laid to waste.

Now, some observers are saying that, once there is a cease-fire in Gaza, Israel will have sufficient capacity to then turn its attention to Lebanon. So what will be Hezbollah's response if the strikes from Lebanon continue?

Ibrahim Moussawi:

In Arabic (speaking in foreign language). They are welcome and they can try it.

We are ready, more than enough, to deal them devastating blows. They are not going to be able to destroy or do anything to us without having a reprisal and a retaliation that is not equal. It could be about force.

Simona Foltyn:

Neither side may want all-out war, but that's where the path could lead if a political solution remains elusive.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Simona Foltyn in Beirut.