Hezbollah Will Stay Out Of US-Iran Fight, But Only If Strikes 'Limited'
As the Trump White House weighs its options against Tehran, Hezbollah is signaling it may not be eager to open another front - at least not immediately, issuing a rare message which seeks to calm the mood in the region.
A senior Hezbollah official told AFP that the Iran-backed group would stay out of the fight if the United States conducts only "limited" strikes against Iran - a notable caveat, but which leaves the door open if escalation goes further.
The past several years of the Gaza war saw Hezbollah enter direct, sustained conflict with Israel - after which the Shia paramilitary group saw it's leadership decimated after a series of targeted IDF strikes on Beirut, as well as the pager blast operation.
And so at this moment, Hezbollah is very much on a back foot, and likely doesn't have the resources to enter into a new round of fighting with Israel along the country's northern border.
However, it's believed that Hezbollah - which has throughout it's history stretching back into the 1980s closely coordinated with Iran - still has tens of thousands of rockets it could unleash.
The Israeli government has meanwhile conveyed its own indirect warning, saying if Hezbollah joins any US-Iran war, Lebanon will pay a steep price. Potential Israeli retaliation would once again target civilian infrastructure, including Beirut’s airport - as has happened several times in the past.
"Over the past several months, IDF troops have been operating in southern Lebanon to dismantle terrorist infrastructure and prevent attempts by the Hezbollah terrorist organization to rearm," the Israeli military (IDF) said in a fresh statement this week.
Israeli forces targeted "weapons and terrorist infrastructure, including observation and firing positions in which anti-tank launchers were located," the IDF said.
A key part of Israel's strategy has long been to pressure the entire country of Lebanon and make life miserable for its population. But the Lebanese government and armed forces are limited in their options, given Hezbollah is by far the most well-armed faction, even far and above the national army.
BIG: Hezbollah will not intervene if the U.S. launches 'limited' strikes against Iran.
— Clash Report (@clashreport) February 25, 2026
Source: Hezbollah official to AFP pic.twitter.com/1MSNL39R0Y
But should a major US-Iran-Israel war erupt, there's a high chance that Lebanon would once again feel the disastrous after effects. Hezbollah militants would likely take shots at Israel, and the IDF would respond brutally, likely with more bombing raids over Beirut and especially the south.
On Wednesday, the United States rolled out with yet more sanctions on Iran, which at this point has become a monthly, if not weekly, exercise. Iran is widely seen as a key bankroller of Hezbollah's operations in the Levant region.