BEIRUT: Hezbollah’s deputy chief, Naim Qassem, on Tuesday urged Israelis to seek a ceasefire as the only resolution to the ongoing war, which has escalated into all-out war along the Israel-Lebanon border, vowing that the Lebanese group would not be defeated.
In a televised address, Qassem warned that the war would continue if Israel rejected the ceasefire proposal, vowing that Hezbollah would not be defeated.
“I am telling the Israeli home front: the solution is a ceasefire,” Qassem said. This was his third public address since an Israeli airstrike killed former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Qassem maintained that Hezbollah’s position remained strong. “I am not speaking from a position of weakness, because if Israel does not want (a ceasefire), we will continue,” he added.
The deputy chief reiterated Hezbollah’s commitment to the fight, stating, “The resistance will not be defeated because this is its land.” He outlined that, following a ceasefire agreement, indirect negotiations would allow for residents in northern Israel to return to their homes, and further steps toward peace could be planned.
Qassem emphasized Hezbollah’s right to retaliate, stating, “Since the Israeli enemy targeted all of Lebanon, we have the right from a defensive position to target any place in Israel, whether the centre, the north, or the south.” He vowed that Hezbollah would strike at points of its choice.
The remarks follow almost a year of regular cross-border skirmishes between Israel and Hezbollah, which intensified into a full-scale war on September 23. Israel has since launched heavy bombardments in southern and eastern Lebanon, as well as in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Israeli ground operations in southern Lebanon have also led to fierce clashes between Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters.
Qassem said Hezbollah had established an “equation of hurting the enemy,” with frequent attacks on northern Israel’s Haifa area. He warned that if the war continued, more Israeli towns would be evacuated, putting millions at risk. “More than two million people will be in the danger zone,” he added.
Hezbollah has supported Gaza’s Palestinian resistance group Hamas, opening a new front in Lebanon after Hamas launched its October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
