Ahead of Nasrallah speech, US says it doesn’t think Hezbollah is about to join war

WASHINGTON — The US hasn’t “seen any indication” that Hezbollah is ready to fully join Hamas’s war against Israel and is still “concerned about continued attacks on Israeli forces in the north” by the terror group, White House National Security Council chairman John Kirby says.

Kirby adds that the US will be following what Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah says in his highly-anticipated televised address tomorrow, his first since the war’s outbreak.

Analysts have noted growing frustration from Hamas leaders over Hezbollah’s limited involvement in the ongoing war, with the Lebanese terror group firing roughly 100 missiles at Israel since the October 7 onslaught, while refraining from firing more intense barrages or launching a ground invasion similar to the one Hamas pulled off. Hezbollah did intensify its firing into Israel today though in what appears to be an escalation ahead of Nasrallah’s speech.

Kirby in the White House press briefing also continues Washington’s defense of Qatar amid repeated questions about its hosting of Hamas officials in Doha.

“Qatar has lines of communication with Hamas that almost nobody else has… it would be irresponsible… if we weren’t having every possible conversation we could have… It would be diplomatic malpractice,” he says.