Nasrallah in Lebanon and Iran focus on Israel tensions

An incident along Israel’s border this week enabled Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah to once again say he was watching developments in southern Lebanon closely. This will enable Hezbollah to claim that the incident, which was reported in Israeli media and by the IDF, did not affect Hezbollah.

The group did the same after an incident near Mount Dov in late July and in Syria on August 3. Hezbollah wants to pose as being secure in its power and prepare to threaten Israel at a time of its choosing. It claimed it had a right to respond after one of its members was killed in Syria on July 20.

What does Hezbollah say? Nasrallah responded to reports of a clash on Wednesday along the Israeli border near Manara with cautious statements about how “sensitive” the area is. Fars News in Iran said Nasrallah highlighted how Israel was on “alert.”

His message is that he has foiled Israel and tricked it into remaining on alert and that Hezbollah can keep up the pressure. “An appropriate response will be made,” Hezbollah said. Israel’s “aggressive” actions will be answered, Nasrallah said this week while commemorating the importance of Ashura, a Shi’ite holy day, and the week’s events leading up to it.

The tension comes amid Iran’s claims that it will let nuclear inspectors visit two sites. It also comes as Qatar sent an envoy to Gaza to try to reduce tensions with Israel. It was unclear if those tensions will be reduced. Hamas also sent leaders to Turkey this week, where they met Turkey’s president.

It looks like a regional consensus is afoot with Turkey, Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah all seeking to push tensions with Israel, but on their own time and place of choosing. These groups all oppose the Israel-UAE deal and have watched US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo roam the region this week. He was in Israel, Sudan, Bahrain, the UAE and Oman.

Meanwhile, Lebanon said it would file a complaint with the UN about this week’s border incident. Lebanon claims some “30 projectiles” were fired by Israel into Lebanon, according to Press TV in Iran. Hezbollah also claimed it downed an Israeli drone on August 23.

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The overall narrative among supporters of Hezbollah is that it keeps building up reasons to “respond” to Israel. It is unclear if that is a convenient narrative amid Lebanon’s many problems, or if it is more serious.