Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Monday that the Iranian regime would face “a force they cannot even imagine” should it attack the Jewish state, as U.S. refueling and cargo aircraft landed at Ben Gurion Airport and an American carrier strike group advanced toward the eastern Mediterranean amid escalating regional tensions.

The post U.S. Military Aircraft Land in Israel as Netanyahu Warns Iran of ‘Force They Cannot Even Imagine’ appeared first on Breitbart.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has tightened control over Hezbollah in the Middle East amid looming prospects of potential U.S. strikes, according to reports.

According to the Jerusalem Post, the tactical shift comes as Hezbollah and Iran prepare for military confrontation in the region, with analysts warning that if Washington specifically strikes the regime, Hezbollah is ready to be "activated."

"If the regime in Tehran feels threatened, the likelihood of unleashing Hezbollah against Israel and U.S. regional assets increases substantially," Ross Harrison, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told Fox News Digital.

"Hezbollah would not be activated right away, unless the attack immediately targets the leadership of the Islamic Republic. But as part of a graduated response, Hezbollah will likely be seen as an asset," he said.

"If it faces an existential risk, then Iran may throw caution to the wind and try to deploy Hezbollah to the maximum," Harrison explained.

IRAN SIGNALS NUCLEAR PROGRESS IN GENEVA AS TRUMP CALLS FOR FULL DISMANTLEMENT

President Donald Trump previously gave Iran a deadline of 10 to 15 days to respond to a deal, raising questions about what steps Washington could take if Tehran fails to comply.

A new round of talks is now scheduled for Thursday in Geneva and expected to focus on Iran’s nuclear program, including uranium enrichment levels and sanctions relief.

"The decision-making circle in the White House is very small regarding Iran, with the president keeping a close hand on it all," Harrison explained.

He added that any decision to directly target the Iranian regime would likely rest within Trump’s inner circle of advisers.

"Normally there is input from the National Security Council and the wider intelligence community," Harrison said. "Since the decision-making process in the White House is opaque, it is hard to know how much of this is getting through."

WITKOFF WARNS IRAN IS ‘A WEEK AWAY’ FROM 'BOMB-MAKING MATERIAL' AS TRUMP WEIGHS ACTION

"If the U.S. is engaging with the Saudis and Emiratis, they are getting warnings about the possibility of this war spreading to the broader region, which would be deleterious to the U.S. and its allies," he added.

Harrirson also warned that there was "potential for attacks to spread across the region, to Israel through direct Iranian ballistic attacks and via Hezbollah, and to the Gulf Arab states through Iran directly and possibly via the Houthis from Yemen."

Regional media reports also suggest Iran's ties with Hezbollah are strengthening. Sources told Al Arabiya and Al Hadath that IRGC officers have been rebuilding Hezbollah’s military infrastructure and managing strategic war plans.

The coordination follows changes within Hezbollah’s leadership, Harrison explained.

"Since the killing by Israel of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah last year, ties and operational coordination have to some degree been reestablished," he said.

"The IRGC has supported Hezbollah in Lebanon for decades," he said, adding that efforts to reestablish ties appear to be occurring "particularly in light of the destruction of Iran’s nuclear sites last June."

IRAN DRAWS MISSILE RED LINE AS ANALYSTS WARN TEHRAN IS STALLING US TALKS

"Iran is trying to resurrect lost assets, such as its missile program and its connections to Hezbollah," Harrison said.

"Hezbollah has been seen for decades by Iran as a deterrence asset against an Israeli or American attack. Since Hezbollah has its own interests, connected to but separate from Iran, whether its leadership will go all the way for Tehran is unknown," he concluded.

The developments surrounding Hezbollah and the IRGC came as Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has appointed close ally Ali Larijani as the country’s de facto leader, according to reports.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., swiftly pulled the plug on a meeting with Lebanese Chief of Defense Gen. Rodolphe Haykal after the Lebanese official refused to confirm that the Iranian regime-backed Hezbollah movement is a terrorist organization.

Graham posted to X a blunt message about his frustration with the state of Lebanon in particular and Mideast power politics in general.

 "I just had a very brief meeting with the Lebanese Chief of Defense General Rodolphe Haykal. I asked him point blank if he believes Hezbollah is a terrorist organization. He said, ‘No, not in the context of Lebanon." With that, I ended the meeting. They are clearly a terrorist organization. Hezbollah has American blood on its hands. Just ask the U.S. Marines," 

He continued, "They have been designated as a foreign terrorist organization by both Republican and Democrat administrations since 1997 – for good reason. As long as this attitude exists from the Lebanese Armed Forces, I don’t think we have a reliable partner in them. I am tired of the double speak in the Middle East. Too much is at stake."

LAWMAKERS QUESTION WHETHER US MOVING FAST ENOUGH TO CAPITALIZE ON HEZBOLLAH'S WEAKENED STATE

Haykal’s refusal to recognize that Hezbollah is a terrorist organization set off security alarm bells among leading experts on the movement.

Matthew Levitt, a leading scholar on Hezbollah from the Washington Institute, told Fox News Digital that, ‘Gen. Haykal’s comment is only going to further concerns that the LAF sees Hezbollah as an actor with which it should deconflict, rather than disarm. The ceasefire agreement is clear that Hezbollah must be disarmed, in both the south and north of the country. In several instances to date, the LAF appears to have shared with Hezbollah targeting intelligence obtained from Israel through the US-led mechanism rather than acting on it."

He added, "At a time when the LAF is seeking international aid, purportedly to disarm Hezbollah, failing to recognize the group as an adversary not only of Israel but of Lebanon as well undermines the case for further funding."

Fox News Digital sent multiple press queries to Lebanon’s embassy in Washington, D.C.

ISRAEL WARNS HEZBOLLAH ‘PLAYING WITH FIRE,’ PRESSES LEBANON TO ACT ON WEAPONS PLEDGE

Sarit Zehavi, a leading Israeli security expert on Hezbollah from the Israel Alma Research and Education Center, told Fox News Digital that, "I was not surprised by what Haykal said. This is exactly the problem. Hezbollah is not designated as a terrorist organization in Lebanon. The Lebanese army... is not willing to clash with Hezbollah. Hezbollah is not willing to voluntarily disarm. It will not happen as long as there is no clash."

Zehavi claimed the Lebanese Armed Forces has "helped Hezbollah to conceal is military activity and weapons storages in south Lebanon."

The U.S. brokered a ceasefire in Nov. 2024 between Hezbollah and Israel. In August, Lebanon’s government accepted an American plan to disarm the group by the end of 2025. That deadline does not seem to have been met.

U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, Thomas Barrack, who also serves as envoy to Syria, said at a recent Milken Institute event that Lebanon is a "failed state." 

CARTEL CONNECTION: HEZBOLLAH AND IRAN EXPLOIT MADURO’S VENEZUELA FOR COCAINE CASH

Barrack said, "The confessional system does not work. A Maronite president, a Sunni prime minister and a Shia speaker; 128 parliamentary seats split equally between Islam and Christians; everything is a deadlock."

He said, "Hezbollah is a foreign terrorist by U.S. standards," and "it also happens to be a large political party within Lebanon that has blocking rights… This idea of saying you have to disarm Hezbollah … you’re not actually gonna do it militarily."

Barrack said, "The U.S. is saying Hezbollah needs to be disarmed, Hezbollah is a foreign terrorist organization, it cannot exist. My personal opinion is you kill one terrorist, you create 10. That can’t be the answer." He urged the Lebanese political leadership to "run to Israel and make a deal...there is no other answer."

Walid Phares, an American academic expert on Hezbollah and Lebanon who has advised U.S. presidential candidates, told Fox News Digital that "The disarming of Hezbollah is not just a U.S. and international request but also and most importantly a request by a majority of Lebanese since at least the Cedars Revolution in 2005, when 1.5 million Lebanese Christians, Druze and Sunnis rallied against the Syrian occupation and the Khomeinist militia."

He added, "While the Assad forces withdrew, Hezbollah remained armed. In May 2008, the radical Shia militia conducted an urban military coup against the pro-Western government and seized full power until the Israel-Iran war, known as the 12-day war of 2025. The latter was provoked by Hezbollah siding with Hamas during the Oct. 7 war."

Fox News Digital reported in November that the Trump administration ramped up pressure on the Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah.

A House Foreign Affairs Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee hearing on Tuesday underscored what lawmakers and witnesses repeatedly described as a "historic" but "narrowing" opportunity to weaken Hezbollah and restore Lebanese state sovereignty, while exposing sharp disagreement over whether current U.S. policy is moving fast or forcefully enough.

Opening the hearing, Chairman Mike Lawler, R-NY., said Lebanon is "at a crossroads" following the Nov. 2024 Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire, arguing the moment offers "an unprecedented opportunity" to help Lebanon "break free of the shackles of Iran’s malign influence." He warned, however, that progress has been uneven, saying implementation of the Lebanese Armed Forces’ has been "haphazard at best."

The ranking member, Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., struck a more confrontational tone toward the administration, warning that Hezbollah is already rebuilding and that U.S. policy risks squandering the moment.

WALTZ HAILS ‘NIGHT-AND-DAY’ MIDDLE EAST SHIFT AS TRUMP’S GAZA PLAN RESHAPES REGION

"There is a historic opportunity in Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah and remove its grip on the Lebanese state," he said. "That window of opportunity, however, is narrow. Hezbollah is working hard to rebuild, rearm and to reconstitute itself."

He criticized cuts to non-security assistance and faulted comments by a Trump administration envoy who described Hezbollah as "a political party that also has a militant aspect to it," arguing such language "sent the wrong signals" at a critical moment.

David Schenker, senior fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, testified that while Hezbollah has been weakened militarily, the pace of disarmament remains slow and obstructed.

"The LAF has a presence in the south that it didn’t have prior to November 2024," Schenker said. "But they are not in control. Hezbollah still controls the region."

Schenker said the obstacle is no longer capability but political will. "At this point, the question of disarmament is not a matter of capability but of will," he told lawmakers, warning that Hezbollah continues to thrive amid corruption and a cash-based economy.

ISRAEL-HEZBOLLAH BORDER TENSIONS RISE AS TERROR GROUP REARMS, RESISTS US-BACKED CEASEFIRE

Hanin Ghaddar, senior fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said that even full weapons surrender would not dismantle Hezbollah’s power.

"Hezbollah is not sustained by weapons alone," Ghaddar said. "It survives through an economic and political ecosystem that protects cash flows, penetrates state institutions and enables military rebuilding."

She warned that Lebanon’s unregulated cash economy has become Hezbollah’s most durable asset. "Weapons can be collected, but money keeps flowing," Ghaddar said. "Disarmament without dismantling the cash economy… will not be durable."

TRUMP ADMIN PRESSURES LEBANON TO DISARM HEZBOLLAH AS ENVOY CALLS NATION ‘FAILED STATE’

All three witnesses emphasized U.S. support should be tied to measurable performance such as progress on disarmament of Hezbollah and economic reform.

Schenker called for renewed sanctions against corrupt Lebanese officials, saying, "We should be sanctioning leaders right now… who are obstructing reform."

Dana Stroul, director of research and senior fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, warned that Washington’s approach remains incomplete.

"For the past year, U.S. policy has focused on Hezbollah disarmament, which is critical, but on its own is only a partial strategy," Stroul said.

She cautioned that upcoming parliamentary elections could either "strengthen or undermine the anti-Hezbollah government," calling it the "worst-case outcome" if Hezbollah-aligned politicians retain power.

Ghaddar said Hezbollah’s weakening has shifted Lebanese public discourse. "The mythology of resistance has shattered," she said. "Peace is no longer taboo."

She argued that normalization with Israel would raise the political cost of Hezbollah’s rearmament and help lock in reform. "Without a credible peace horizon, disarmament and economic reform will be temporary. With one, they become structural," Ghaddar said.