Israel ramps up Lebanon attacks as Khamenei threatens

BEIRUT

This handout picture provided by the office of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei shows him during a gathering of Iranian top scientific talents in Tehran on Oct. 2, 2024, with a portrait of the late founder of the Islamic republic Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in the background.

Israel stepped up its strikes across Lebanon on Oct. 4, including a key point thousands of Lebanese use to flee the country, with Iran's supreme leader pledging that his allies will keep fighting Israel.

In a rare appearance leading Friday prayers in Tehran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that Iran’s attack on Israel on Oct. 1 was the “minimum punishment” for Israel against their “astonishing crimes,” adding that Tehran is ready to do it again if necessary.

Speaking to a crowd of thousands in Farsi-speaking Iran he said in Arabic: "The resistance in the region will not back down with these martyrdoms and will win."

“Our resisting people in Lebanon and Palestine, you brave fighters, you loyal and patient people, these martyrdoms and the blood that was shed shouldn’t shake your determination but make you more persistent,” he said.

Israel “cannot seriously harm” Hezbollah and Hamas, and the fight of Lebanese group is a “vital service to the entire region,” he expressed.

The Iranian leader charged that Israel was a "malicious regime" which has "only kept itself standing by the injection of American support.”

Israel “will not last long,” he added.

Khamenei spoke with a rifle by his side, a common tradition in Iran for Shiite Muslim imams leading Friday prayers, meant to signal preparedness to face an enemy.

 Attack on key border crossing 

An Israeli airstrike cut off a main highway linking Lebanon with Syria, leaving two huge craters on either side of the road as the latest in a series of heavy strikes against the Iran-backed group.

"Infrastructure sites adjacent to the Masnaa border crossing between Syria and Lebanon were struck last night," the military said in a statement.

It said the air raids were aimed at preventing the flow of weapons into Lebanon from neighboring Syria and included targeting an alleged underground tunnel used to move arms across the border.

Speaking from Beirut, the World Food Program’s country director for Lebanon, Matthew Hollingworth, said the crossing between Syria and Lebanon was “very significantly bombed,” limiting people’s ability to flee.

“It will mean that goods that would normally come overland through that crossing, the cheapest, most effective way to bring commodities into the country, will also not be able to be to be received here,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today program.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) accused Hezbollah of using the crossing with Syria to transport military equipment into Lebanon.

Associated Press video footage showed that the strikes near the Masnaa crossing left two huge craters on each side of the road. People carrying bags were seen crossing on foot after being dropped off by cars that were unable to pass the site of the airstrike.

The strikes come after 310,000 people, mostly Syrian refugees, crossed into Syria in recent days fleeing the war in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah.

In a stark warning, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warned that the Middle East sits on the “precipice of a region-wide armed conflict.”

The ICRC said that civilians have “borne the brunt” of conflict over the last year.

 Biden: No all-out-war in Mideast 

In the meantime, U.S. President Joe Biden said that he does not believe there will be an all-out war in the Middle East.

Asked how he is confident that a full-blown war can be averted in the region, he said: "I don’t believe there is going to be an all-out war. I think we can avoid it.”

“But there is a lot to do yet, a lot to do yet,” he added, speaking at the White House.

He also responded to a question on whether he would dispatch American troops to help Israel, saying the U.S. has already helped Israel.

"We are going to protect Israel," he added.

His remarks came a day father he said the U.S. is discussing with Israel the possibility of Israeli strikes on Iran’s oil infrastructure.

When asked if he would support such strikes, Biden said: "We're discussing that. I think that would be a little... anyway."