Shillong, October 23: As skirmishes have intensified along the Israel-Lebanon border since the October 7 Hamas assault, an Israeli Minister has threatened Iran and the Hezbollah to “wipe you off the face of the Earth” if it backs the Palestinian militant group in the ongoing conflict.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Economy Minister Nir Barka warned that it would “eliminate Hezbollah” if it follows through on threats to throw its military support behind Hamas, reports The New York Post.
“The plan of Iran is to attack Israel on all fronts. If we find they intend to target Israel, we will not just retaliate to those fronts, but we will go to the head of the snake, which is Iran,” Barkat told the Daily Mail.
“The Ayatollahs in Iran are not going to sleep good at night, we are going to make sure they pay a heavy price if, God forbid, they open the northern front.”
Since the October 7 Hamas attack, there have been exchanges of fire across the border between the Hezbollah and Israeli forces.
Hezbollah, which wields considerable power in Lebanon, is designated as a terror organization by the US, UK, and other countries.
They are considered to have a more sophisticated arsenal compared to Hamas, and are capable of hitting targets further inside Israel.
Last week, the Hezbollah said it was “fully prepared” to join the fighting in support of Hamas.
Barkat also told The Daily Mail that if Israel discovers Hezbollah is fully opening a war front on the northern border, the military will launch an “unforgiving charge” against Iran, which according to the Minister, is synonymous with Hezbollah.
The terror group “will not escalate without the order of Iran,” he said, adding that there is a “global alignment of evil” between Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah.
“Lebanon and Hezbollah are going to pay a heavy price, similar to what Hamas is going to pay. But that’s not enough. The very clear message is that we are going to be going after the heads of Iran as well. When will we do that? When we decide.
“Israel has a very clear message to our enemies. We are saying to them, look what’s happening in Gaza – you are going to get the same treatment if you attack us. We are going to wipe you off the face of the Earth,” he warned.