Israel-Gaza Conflict: Hezbollah Chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah Pledges Support to Hamas

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Lebanon-based insurgent outfit Hezbollah, has held telephone conversations with senior figures of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad pledging support to Palestine in the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict.

Speaking to Hamas chief Khaled Mashal, Nasrallah assured his fighters would be ready to stand by the Palestinians.

"Hezbollah and the Lebanese resistance will stand by the Palestinian people's uprising and resistance in our heart, willpower, hope and destiny," Nasrallah told Mashal during a late-night telephone conversation, according to a Hezbollah statement.

Nasrallah also warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the statement. "If Netanyahu is counting on governmental and international support in his [Gaza] offensive, the resistance in Gaza relies by all means on the strongest popular support."

The Hamas leader asserted the Palestinian group "will remain steadfast and make a second victory in July, God willing".

Hezbollah, a Shiite-militant outfit backed by Iran, has been involved in several armed hostilities with Israel in the past.

In another phone conversation with Ramadan Abdullah Shalah, the chief of Islamic Jihad, Nasrallah promised "Hezbollah's and the Islamic resistance in Lebanon's support for Hamas in Gaza."

Hezbollah has so far not entered the Israel-Gaza conflict. The group's interference in the Syrian civil war to fight on behalf of President Bashar al-Assad's regime has tilted the balance in favour of Damascus in recent months.