Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem spoke Wednesday from hiding in Lebanon and said he was confident Israel would eventually be driven out after the understandings signed between the United States and Iran. He thanked the Islamic Republic for, in his words, tying together the Lebanese front, the resistance and the public, and for forcing Israel to stop its aggression.
Qassem said Iran’s enemies had failed to bring down the Iranian regime and argued that the balance of power would shift in favor of regional populations. He described Israel’s project as an effort to eliminate Hezbollah militarily, culturally, politically and socially, which he said would amount to the destruction and execution of much of Lebanese society. He said the struggle was existential, not about territory, and claimed Hezbollah had shattered the Israeli project, prevented Israel from killing, settling and realizing a Greater Israel, and saved Lebanon through steadfastness. He urged taking advantage of the current moment after the agreement to expel Israel, and said there would be no pilot zones or safe areas for Israel, “not yellow zones and not red zones.” He called on the ceasefire agreement to be used to stop attacks by air, sea and land, secure an Israeli withdrawal, free Lebanese prisoners and begin reconstruction.
At the G7 summit in France, US President Donald Trump said he had suggested that Syria handle Hezbollah and repeated that Israel should be doing a better job. He said Syrian leader Ahmad al-Sharaa would be willing to go in and act, but “he will not bring down buildings and do it precisely.” Trump said no one had expected such an agreement and criticized former President Barack Obama’s Iran deal, saying it sent money to Iran and opened a path to nuclear weapons.
Trump said he had told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he should be “more gentle” with Lebanon and that “you do not need to bring down a building to remove someone.” He added that if an agreement is not reached within 60 days, “we will go back to bombing there.” Trump said a deal with Lebanon would be worked on as part of a broader picture, adding that Syria could help and that Lebanon and Beirut had suffered unnecessary destruction.
