The leader of the militant Hezbollah organisation in Lebanon, Hassan Nasrallah, has praised as "courageous and wise" the Hamas terror attacks of 7 October which killed 1,400 Israelis.
In a closely watched televised address, the Hezbollah leader said the battle in Gaza was decisive, but he stopped short of saying that his military organisation would intensify its attacks against Israeli positions along the border.
Mr Nasrallah, the spiritual head of Hezbollah, has remained silent since the 7 October attacks, so his address today from the southern suburbs of Beirut was eagerly anticipated.
He insisted that the Hamas incursion into Israel, resulting in the massacre of hundreds of civilians, was a Palestinian initiative and not driven by any wider regional calculation.
It established a new phase in the historic battle against Israel, he said, and that what he referred to as the 'Al Aqsa flood' - the Hamas terminology for its attack - was now operating on more than one front.
The Hamas attack, he said, caused an earthquake in Israel and demonstrated its weakness.
Referring to Hezbollah's exchange of rocket fire with Israel along its northern border, he said the Iranian-backed military organisation had effectively joined the front.
While saying this was not all Hezbollah would do, he did not appear to signal a major escalation.
Mr Nasrallah warned that a wider conflict in the Middle East was a realistic possibility in a speech that was expected to indicate whether his group would wage a full-fledged war against Israel.
Hezbollah have been escalating day by day, forcing Israel to keep its forces near the Lebanese border instead of Gaza and the occupied West Bank, Mr Nasrallah said.
"What's happening on the border might seem modest but is very important," he added
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Mr Nasrallah blamed the United States for for the war in Gaza and the high civilian death toll and that a de-escalation in the besieged enclave was vital to prevent regional war.
The Hezbollah chief thanked groups in Yemen and Iraq, part of what is known as the "Axis of Resistance".
It includes Shi'ite Muslim Iraqi militias, which have been firing at US forces in Syria and Iraq, and Yemen's Houthis, who have joined in the conflict by firing drones at Israel.
Mr Nasrallah said further escalation along the Lebanese border between his group and Israel is contingent on the escalation in Gaza.
"We are ready for all possibilities," Mr Nasrallah said.
He also warned Israel against attacking Lebanon, saying "all options" were on the table and that the chance of open conflict was "realistic".
"All options are open on our Lebanese front," Mr Nasrallah said, adding: "We say to the enemy that might think of attacking Lebanon or carrying out a pre-emptive operation, that this would be the greatest foolishness of its existence."
