Hezbollah leader meets with top Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad figures

The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group met with senior Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad officials in a meeting between the three top anti-Israel militant groups.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah discussed with Hamas’s Saleh al-Arouri and Islamic Jihad’s leader Ziad al-Nakhleh the next steps they and other Iranian-backed groups should take as the war rages on in Gaza.

Their goal, according to a settlement released after the meeting, is to achieve “a real victory for the resistance in Gaza and Palestine” and stop Israel’s “treacherous and brutal aggression” against people in Gaza and the West Bank.

The discussion was Wednesday in Beirut, and no other details were provided, The Associated Press reported.

The meeting comes as Israel and Hamas are in their third week of fighting. The battle was triggered by Hamas’ deadly surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7 that left more than 1,400 Israelis dead — mostly civilians.

The Hamas-run Health Ministry said Wednesday at least 6,546 Palestinians have also been killed and 17,439 others wounded in the subsequent air strikes.

Tensions are rising in the Middle East, where along the Lebanon-Israel border, Hezbollah members have been exchanging fire with Israeli troops.

The United States State Department urged Americans to leave Lebanon “as soon as possible,” last week as the fighting continued. Demonstrations and violence have also erupted in Lebanon amid the war.

The advisory outlined that Americans should have a plan in place to leave Lebanon and not rely on the U.S. government.

The State Department also issued an alert for all American citizens abroad to exercise increased caution. They recommended U.S. citizens enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP), which sends alerts and helps locate people in times of emergency.

Israeli officials have said they would retaliate aggressively in the case of a cross-border attack by Hezbollah. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said military forces would cripple Hezbollah and the consequences for Lebanon would be devastating, the AP reported.