Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah will make his first public comments since the Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israel went to war, a speech that will be scrutinised for clues on how the group's role in the conflict might evolve.
A formidable military force, Hezbollah has been engaging Israeli forces along the border, where 55 of its fighters have been killed in the deadliest escalation since it fought a war with Israel in 2006.
On the eve of his Friday speech, Hezbollah mounted what appeared to be its biggest attack yet in more than three weeks of fighting, saying it launched 19 simultaneous strikes on Israeli army positions and using explosive drones for the first time.
Israel responded with air strikes along with tank and artillery fire as the fighting on the border escalated.
However, with the clashes so far mostly contained to the frontier, Hezbollah has still only drawn on a fraction of the firepower with which Nasrallah has been threatening Israel for years.
Many people in Lebanon are anxiously awaiting the 3pm (midnight Friday, AEDT) speech, rattled for weeks by fear of a catastrophic conflict. Some say they are not making plans beyond Friday, believing his remarks will signal the chances of escalation.
The speech is also being anticipated more widely. Nasrallah is a leading voice in a regional military alliance established by Iran to counter the United States and Israel.
Known as the "Axis of Resistance" it includes Shi'ite Muslim Iraqi militias which have been firing at United States forces in Syria and Iraq, and Yemen's Houthis, who have waded into the conflict by firing drones at Israel.
People check buildings destroyed in an Israeli strike on the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on Thursday. Source: Getty, NurPhoto / Majdi Fathi
Wearing the black turban of a sayyed, or a descendent of the Prophet Mohammad, and Shi'ite clerical robes, Nasrallah is one of the most prominent figures in the Arab world.
Recognised even by critics as a skilled orator, his speeches have long been followed closely by friend and foe alike. He is deemed a terrorist by adversaries including the US
His fiery speeches during the 2006 war elevated his profile, including one in which he announced Hezbollah had struck an Israeli naval vessel with an anti-ship missile, urging viewers to "look to the sea".
Hezbollah is a Lebanese Islamist political party and militant group formed in 1982 after Israeli forces invaded southern Lebanon that year.
It is backed by Iran and leads a multi-party alliance that holds just under half the seats in Lebanon's parliament.
Hezbollah is listed as a terrorist organisation by countries including Australia, the US, Germany, and the United Kindgom. The European Union lists only its military wing as a terrorist organisation.
However, Hezbollah itself makes no distinction between its political and military wings.
Top US diplomat arrives in Israel
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv on Friday to push for humanitarian pauses in the Gaza war after Israel said its troops had surrounded the Palestinian enclave's biggest city, the focus of its drive to wipe out Hamas.
Israeli forces again pounded the Gaza Strip from ground, sea and air throughout the night amid global alarm over horrendous conditions inside the besieged territory and rising number of deaths of Palestinian civilians.
Allied militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad said their fighters had detonated explosive devices against advancing troops, dropped grenades from drones, and fired mortars and anti-tank rockets in fierce urban warfare around destroyed buildings.
Blinken, on his second trip to Israel in a month, is due to discuss with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu concrete steps to minimise harm to civilians in Gaza,
, buildings have been flattened, and thousands of people have fled homes to escape relentless bombings.
The White House said any pauses in fighting should be temporary and localised. It has dismissed calls from Arab and several other nations for a full ceasefire in the war, now in its 28th day.
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel on Friday and is expected to call for localised pauses in fighting to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. Source: AP / Andrew Harnik/AP
Gaza health authorities say at least 9,061 people - many of them women and children - have been killed since Israel started its assault on the enclave of 2.3 million people in retaliation for deadly attacks by Hamas militants on southern Israel.
Israel says Hamas killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and took more than 240 hostages in the attacks on
, the deadliest day of its 75-year-old history.
On Thursday, Netanyahu said the military had encircled Gaza City and was advancing. The Israeli military said on Friday its war planes, artillery and navy had struck Hamas targets overnight, killing several militants including Mustafa Dalul, a Hamas commander it said had directed combat in Gaza.
There was no immediate confirmation from Hamas.
Israeli tanks moving towards the Gaza Strip on Wednesday. An Israeli military spokesperson said on Thursday troops had "completed the encirclement of Gaza City" Source: AAP, AP / Ariel Schalit
The United Arab Emirates, one of a handful of Arab states with diplomatic ties to Israel, said on Friday it was working "relentlessly" for an immediate ceasefire, warning that the risk of regional spillover and further escalation was real.
Israel has dismissed these calls, saying it targets Hamas fighters whom it accuses of intentionally hiding among the population and civilian buildings.
Hamas is a Palestinian military and political group, which has gained power in the Gaza Strip since winning legislative elections there in 2006. Its stated aim is to establish a Palestinian state, while refusing to recognise Israel's right to exist.
Hamas, in its entirety, is designated as a terrorist organisation by countries including Australia, Canada, the UK and the US. New Zealand and Paraguay list only its military wing as a terrorist group. In 2018, the United Nations General Assembly voted against a resolution condemning Hamas in its entirety as a terrorist organisation.
