Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem rejected ongoing ceasefire efforts in Lebanon on Wednesday, speaking on the occasion of the end of 40-day mourning period for his slain predecessor Hassan Nasrallah.
“Only one thing will end this war, which is the battlefield,” the terrorist leader said. “We are not expecting the end of the war through any political action.”
As Hezbollah released the pre-recorded speech on Telegram, the Israel Defense Forces issued evacuation orders for several areas in Beirut’s southern Dahiyeh suburbs, where the terrorist group’s leadership is largely based.
Qassem warned, in reference to recent deadly attacks, “There is no place in the Israeli entity that is out of reach for [unmanned] planes and rockets; the days ahead will be like those that have passed.” He noted that Hezbollah “enjoys tens of thousands of trained forces ready to fight.”
The Hezbollah leader continued, “We cannot be defeated, for the land is ours, and Allah is with us. We emphasize indirect negotiations through the Lebanese state and [Hezbollah ally Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih] Berri, who carries the banner of political resistance.”
Any political agreement should be based on “an end to the aggression and protecting Lebanese sovereignty completely,” Qassem added, denouncing the “big insult to Lebanon” caused by last week’s IDF raid that captured senior Hezbollah terrorist Imad Amhaz.
Qassem implied that the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon was involved in the incident and urged Beirut’s military to “issue a statement explaining the reason for this breach [of sovereignty] and have them, especially the Germans [serving in UNIFIL], explain what they witnessed that night.”
Hezbollah has reportedly been demanding that Germany be expelled from the peacekeeping mission after its forces shot down a terrorist drone off Lebanon’s coast near the city of Nakura on Oct. 17.
Earlier on Wednesday, Hezbollah terrorists fired a barrage of rockets toward Israel’s densely populated central region, including Tel Aviv. A direct impact was reported in a parking lot at Ben-Gurion International Airport.
Less than an hour before the barrage, air-raid sirens were activated in Trump Heights and nearby areas in the Golan Heights. The nascent town is named after the 45th president of the United States, who about two hours cliched his election victory ahead of becoming the 47th president.
More than 26,000 rockets, missiles and suicide drones have been launched at the Jewish state by Iran and its regional terrorist proxies since the Hamas-led massacre on Oct. 7, 2023, according to official IDF military data.
The numbers were published on the first anniversary of the terrorist invasion. There have been some 13,200 launches from the Gaza Strip, 12,400 from Lebanon, 400 from Iran, 180 from Yemen and 60 from Syria, according to the data.
