Hezbollah leader vows to make America ‘pay’ and keep attacking troops in chilling warning: Terror group’s chief says he is ‘ready’ to face fleet of warships and blames the U.S. for the Gaza war

The powerful head of Hezbollah issued a warning that the U.S. will ‘pay’ for its backing of Israel – on a day when the U.S. warned about the importance of avoiding an expanded war as Israel battles on Hamas.

Hezbollah’s secretary general Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah made repeated reference to the military assets the U.S. has dispatched to the region. U.S. troops in the Middle East have been subjected to repeated attacks since the response to the brutal Hamas attack inside Israel.

‘You, the Americans, know very well that if war breaks out in the region, your fleets will be of no use. The one who will pay the price will be … your interests, your soldiers and your fleets,’ he said, according to a Reuters translation.

He repeatedly directed comments toward the U.S., Israel’s closest ally, after the Biden administration dispatched powerful military assets to the region and Congress has begun to act on proposals to send billions more. 

‘Whoever wants to prevent a regional war – and this is addressed to the Americans – must quickly stop the aggression on Gaza,’ he said. He accused the U.S. of impeding calls for a ceasefire and an end to the fighting. 

Since Hamas militants launched an unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip, Lebanon’s southern border has seen escalating tit-for-tat exchanges, mainly between Israel and Hezbollah, an ally of the Palestinian group, stoking fears of a broader conflagration.

‘Your fleet in the Mediterranean do not scare us… we are ready to face the fleet you threaten us with,’ he threatened.

It came on a day U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken after meeting with top Israeli leaders repeated President Biden’s warnings against anyone seeking to expand the conflict.

‘We are determined that there not be a second or third front opened in this conflict,’ Blinken said, mentioning that the U.S. had dispatched two aircraft carrier strike groups to the region. The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier strike groups are both operating in the region, and the U.S. has increased its troop presence.

Blinken also pushed Israel to ‘do more to protect Palestinian civilians,’ warning that the killing of innocent civilians would set back peace efforts. ”There will be no partners for peace if they’re consumed by humanitarian catastrophe,’ Blinken said. 

Since October 7, the U.S. has experienced more than two dozen attacks on U.S. forces in the region, including at the al-Asad air base in western Iraq.