According to the Hezbollah-aligned sources, a wider Israeli military offensive against Lebanon is only a matter of time.<\/p>\n
The report came as US President Donald Trump has amassed military forces in the region and repeatedly threatened to use them against Iran, first over the Islamic Republic\u2019s brutal crackdown on anti-regime protesters last month and more recently over its nuclear program.<\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\tBy signing up, you agree to the terms<\/a><\/p>\n Israel is preparing to fight alongside the US and expects to be targeted by Iran if the US strikes there, according to Hebrew media.<\/p>\n \t Channel 12 news reported Saturday that Trump was leaning toward attacking Iran, but had agreed to a request from his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to give Iran another day or two to submit a proposal in the indirect US-Iran nuclear negotiations that commenced earlier this month.<\/p>\n An unnamed US official was quoted by the network saying that the 10- to 15-day deadline Trump gave Iran on Thursday was \u201cnot scientific.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump has demanded Iran give up entirely on its nuclear enrichment program, but is reportedly open to letting the Islamic Republic preserve some \u201ctoken\u201d enrichment capabilities.<\/p>\n Speaking to pro-Iran demonstrators in Lebanon last month, Hezbollah chief\u00a0Naim Qassem said<\/a> the terrorist group would not be neutral if the US struck Iran, but stopped short of explicitly threatening Israel.<\/p>\n \t Meanwhile, the Ynet news site said\u00a0in an unsourced report this week that Iran was pressuring<\/a> Hezbollah to fight alongside it in the event of a war with Israel. The report also said the IDF had prepared a plan to \u201csignificantly strike\u201d Hezbollah and had conveyed to it \u201cthat if it decides to intervene, this time the blow will be very painful.\u201d<\/p>\n On Saturday, anti-Hezbollah Lebanese outlet Nidaa al-Watan cited \u201cprominent political sources\u201d in the country as saying Beirut must declare its neutrality in case of a US-Iran war, and refuse to let Hezbollah drag Lebanon into war with Israel.<\/p>\n \u201cHezbollah thought it could confuse Israel and the US by saying it would not be neutral if Iran were struck, so Israel responded by saying that as soon as it\u2019s informed by Washington of the zero hour, it will preemptively strike Hezbollah. Israel won\u2019t let Hezbollah have the initiative,\u201d Nidaa al-Watan quoted its sources as saying. \u201cHezbollah will drag Lebanon into this war.\u201d<\/p>\n Hezbollah, previously a formidable force in Lebanon\u2019s government, has been politically sidelined with the accession in January 2025 of Lebanon\u2019s US- and Saudi-backed President Joseph Aoun, a former army chief who has vowed to uphold a state monopoly on arms \u2014 a thinly veiled threat against Hezbollah\u2019s extensive arsenal.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tAn excavator clears rubble of buildings destroyed in IDF airstrikes in the village of Ali al-Nahri in the center of Lebanon\u2019s eastern Beqaa Valley region on February 21, 2026. (AFP)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AFP__20260126__942W8G3__v1__HighRes__LebanonIranUsProtest-e1769463320383.jpg\")
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\n\t\tSupporters watch a televised speech by Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem during a rally to show their solidarity with Iran, in the southern suburb of Beirut on January 26, 2026. (Anwar AMRO \/ AFP)<\/p>\n
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