Greek left-wing opposition parties slam Israeli assassination of Hezbollah leader

By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) - Two major Greek left-wing opposition parties have slammed Israel’s assassination last week of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

“The terrorist state of Israel is advancing with the blessings and support of the US, NATO, and the EU, in a generalized war against the peoples of the Middle East, with unpredictable consequences for the wider region and internationally,” the Communist Party of Greece said in a statement on Monday.

The party said the assassination of Nasrallah and of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh this July, and threats for a ground attack on Lebanon as well as its ongoing genocide in Gaza, “show that a plan is underway to escalate war and imperialist interventions, the impact of which goes beyond the boundaries of the Middle East.”

The party also accused Greece’s conservative government of being complicit in Israel’s crime by providing political, economic, and military support.

On Sunday, the main opposition left-wing Syriza party warned that “a new regional war without rules with a heavy civilian population is at hand with implications that go beyond the geographical boundaries of the Middle East.”

“The region is on the brink of a generalized conflagration under the responsibility of the US and Israel, who, by their actions, contribute to the marginalization of the UN, abolish multilateral diplomacy, and go so far as to undermine international peace,” the party said in a statement in response to Nasrallah’s assassination.

The party also called on the government to take immediate initiatives for a just peace in league with other governments.

Since Sept. 23, Israel has launched massive airstrikes against what it calls Hezbollah targets across Lebanon, killing more than 960 people and injuring over 2,770 others, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Nasrallah, along with several Hezbollah commanders, were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the capital Beirut on Friday.

Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of Israel's war on Gaza last October, which has killed nearly 41,600 people, mostly women and children, following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas.

The international community has warned that Israeli attacks in Lebanon could escalate the Gaza conflict into a wider regional war.​​​​​​​