Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem. Screen grab from video
Addressing a mass Ashura rally in Beirut’s southern suburbs, Qassem said Israel “has no option but to withdraw completely from every inch of our Lebanese land and cease all aggression by air, land and sea, in all its forms”.
“Israel must leave unconditionally,” he said. “Any commitment that undermines Lebanon's sovereignty will not be tolerated, and no one has the right to sign or accept anything.”
He added: “There will be no normalization or concessions,” urging Beirut's political authorities to reject "the enemy's dictates and build a unified front against Israel's military aggression."
Qassem's stern words come as peace talks in Washington between Lebanese and Israeli officials remained deadlocked over Israel's refusal to withdraw from the occupied areas in southern Lebanon.
On Thursday, Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health said that the death toll from the Israeli aggression on Lebanon has risen to 4,230, while the number of injured has reached 12,179 since early March.
In its latest report issued by the Emergency Operations Center, the ministry said that 38 people were killed and eight others were wounded during the past 24 hours.
In his speech, Qassem also hailed the Iran-US memorandum of understanding, which extended a ceasefire in the US-Israel war on Iran and established a 60-day framework for talks toward a broader agreement to end regional conflicts, including the Israeli-Hezbollah confrontation.
Tehran, which backs the Lebanese resistance movement, has made ending Israel's war on Lebanon and securing its withdrawal from occupied areas in the country's south central to any lasting agreement.
In this context, Qassem called on Lebanon’s political leadership “to reject external Arab and foreign pressure that fuels division and serves Israeli interests, while to engage in full cooperation with Arab and international partners that support Lebanon,” describing the Iran-US MoU as an opportunity to strengthen Lebanese sovereignty.
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