As Iran’s leadership shifts amid war, Hezbollah moves to reset the balance: expert

Hezbollah declares readiness for "open war" and fires rockets into northern Israel, prompting Israeli retaliation as the militant group escalates involvement. War With Iran As Iran’s leadership shifts amid war, Hezbollah moves to reset the balance: expert Iranian-backed proxy putting 'everything they have into the fight' while Israel takes position near Lebanese border By Emma Bussey Fox News Published March 3, 2026 5:33pm EST Facebook Twitter Threads Flipboard Comments Print Email Add Fox News on Google close Video Lebanese PM calls on Hezbollah to STOP attacks on Israel Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam declared all Hezbollah actions 'illegal' and ordered the group to disarm after an overnight rocket barrage targeted Haifa. An Iranian ballistic missile strike in Be'er Sheva left at least 10 people wounded. NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Hezbollah escalated its involvement in the widening conflict between Iran and the U.S. and Israel on Tuesday, launching long-range missiles from Lebanon within 48 hours of coordinated strikes on Iran amid Operation Epic Fury. The militant group also declared it was ready for an "open war," The Associated Press reported.The Iranian-backed militant group fired rockets into northern Israel, prompting Israeli retaliation, according to The Times of Israel. Two were intercepted by air defenses, the military said. "Hezbollah is putting everything they have into the fight to add to the challenges Israel will face in this war," Ross Harrison, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told Fox News Digital. Rockets being launched from Lebanon towards Israel as seen from the Israeli side of the border with Lebanon, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel. (Reuters/Gil Eliyahu) "But Hezbollah also knows that if the Iranian regime falls, they could be degraded," he said, before highlighting that "Israel could not totally disarm Hezbollah."Hezbollah was formed in the early 1980s, with Iranian backing during Lebanon’s civil war and has grown into Tehran’s most powerful proxy. For decades, Iran has funded, armed and trained the group as part of its broader strategy to confront Israel and expand its regional influence."Iran believes that it has to reestablish deterrence before the end of this war with the U.S. and Israel, so expanding it using Hezbollah and attacking Gulf Arab states and Cyprus is part of this," Harrison warned. Israel responded to Hezbollah’s escalation with additional airstrikes on Beirut and expanded its ground operations, with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) taking positions near the border. The U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon reported seeing Israeli troops enter and exit Lebanese territory, though the IDF insisted its forces continue to operate there, according to The Associated Press.IRAN FIRES MISSILES AT US BASES ACROSS MIDDLE EAST AFTER AMERICAN STRIKES ON NUCLEAR, IRGC SITES Hezbollah launches long-range missiles from Lebanon into northern Israel within 48 hours of strikes on Iran, escalating the widening conflict amid Operation Epic Fury. (Hadi Mizban/AP)The U.S. Embassy in Beirut also announced Tuesday that it would close until further notice in a post on X. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said, "To prevent the possibility of direct fire at Israeli communities, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I have authorized the IDF to advance and hold additional dominant terrain in Lebanon and defend the border communities from there."Katz added, "The IDF continues to operate forcefully against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. The terrorist organization is paying and will pay a heavy price for the fire toward Israel," he said."Hezbollah, this is an octopus. The head of the octopus is in Iran. The arms are all over the region," IDF spokesperson Effie Defrin told Fox News Digital. "Last night, they launched missiles into Haifa, into a city center in Israel. They started it, they knew the consequences of that," Defrin said Tuesday. The IDF also announced that it killed Daoud Ali Zadeh, commander of the Iranian Quds Force’s Lebanon Corps, in Tehran.TOP ISRAELI MILITARY OFFICIAL REVEALS OPERATION AGAINST IRAN INVOLVED 'STRATEGIC AND OPERATIONAL DECEPTION' Iran rebuilds Hezbollah ties as Trump gives a 10- to 15-day deadline. (Fadel Itani/NurPhoto via Getty Images) The Quds Force acts as a key liaison between Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, and Hezbollah leadership, facilitating the transfer of advanced weaponry and enhancing proxy firepower."The Quds Force is the arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, responsible for Iran’s relations with its allied militias, such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Kata’ib Hezbollah in Iraq, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen," Harrison clarified. "The Quds Force is the IRGC’s expeditionary force, designed to give Iran strategic depth," he said. "They are (or were) significant in managing Iran’s relations with shadowy militia organizations, and it has been challenged over the last couple of years as Hamas and Hezbollah have been degraded."On Saturday, the U.S.-Israeli airstrike campaign had also targeted Iranian leadership