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By Vered Weiss, World Israel News
Hassan Nasrallah, head of the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah, said in a televised address on Wednesday that if Israel agreed to a ceasefire, Hezbollah and the “Axis of Resistance” would stop attacking Israel.
“If there is a ceasefire in Gaza, then our front will also cease fire without discussion, irrespective of any other agreement or mechanisms or negotiations,” Nasrallah said on Wednesday.
“Hamas is negotiating on its own behalf and on behalf of the Palestinian factions, and also on behalf of the entire Axis of Resistance. What Hamas accepts, we all accept,” Nasrallah said.
The “Axis of Resistance” denotes the terror groups, such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, backed by Iran.
Since October 7th, Hezbollah has been firing missiles into the north of Israel, and the Houthis have interfered with international shipping.
As a result of the constant barrage of rockets, 60,000 residents of the north of Israel have been evacuated.
Nasrallah issued a warning that it was not afraid of war if necessary, and it has proved by its barrage of rockets that it is ready to fight if conditions aren’t met.
Nasrallah’s statements raise the stakes of the hostage deal currently being negotiated in Doha, because it implies that, failing an agreement, Israel will have a war on two fronts–ongoing operations in Gaza and possibly a 3rd Lebanon war as Hezbollah attacks have escalated in recent weeks, culminating in the deaths of an Israeli couple whose car was hit by a Hezbollah rocket on Tuesday.
Last week, Hamas said it had dropped its demand for Israel to commit to a permanent end to the war, which was a non-starter for Jerusalem.
The terror group’s announcement signaled that it was ready to engage in negotiations again, which had been stalled for several months.
Israel recently sent Mossad head David Barnea and a negotiating team to Qatar, where they met with Qatari, Egyptian, and American interlocutors.
In a media statement, Netanyahu said that Israel would only agree to a deal that meets the following conditions: allows Israel to continue fighting until its war aims are achieved, prevents the smuggling of weapons from Egypt to Hamas via Gaza border crossings, does not permit the return of armed Hamas members and other terror operatives who have been displaced from the northern Strip, and provides the “maximum” number of living hostages released from Hamas captivity.
