Hezbollah deputy secretary-general Naim Qassem said: “We see the US as an important partner in all the crimes committed in Gaza. Without the support of the US, the Zionist regime’s attacks would have ended within a month”.
Naim Qassem said in a statement on Lebanese television that the ground attacks in southern Lebanon began 7 days ago, but the Israeli army has not made any progress yet.
Describing the Aqsa Flood operation launched by Hamas on 7 October last year as the beginning of change in the Middle East, Qassem said that Israel’s aim is to destroy the axis of resistance and the Palestinian people.
Declaring that Hezbollah’s capabilities were strong despite Israel’s painful actions in recent weeks, Qassem said his fighters had repelled Israel’s ground attacks.
This is the battle of who will cry first. We will not cry. Hezbollah’s command and control is organised with precision. All the positions we lost in the attacks have been filled. There is constant coordination between the various units and forces on the ground.
Netanyahu will not achieve his goals in this war. We will attack with missiles and drones at the appropriate time and place according to our own military plans.
Qassem stated that they will elect a new secretary general to replace Hassan Nasrullah, saying that they will announce this when the process is complete. Qassem explained that the conditions for electing a new secretary general are difficult because of the war, adding: ‘The only solution for us is to resist and insist.
Qassem also said that Iran was determined to stand by the resistance ‘in the way it sees fit’.
Noting that Hezbollah and the Amal movement were compatible, Qassem said they supported the political process led by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to reach a ceasefire.
For the first time, Qassem’s statement did not mention a ceasefire in Gaza as a precondition for a truce, but it was not clear whether this signalled a change of position.
Hezbollah continues attacks in northern Israel
On the other hand, Hezbollah said in a statement via Telegram that a rocket attack had been organised in the area where Israeli soldiers were gathering near the Al-Merc area near the Lebanese border. The statement noted that rockets were also fired at the Israeli army’s artillery position in the town of Dishun in northern Israel, and that the Israeli artillery position in the town of Delton was also targeted.
The statement said the strikes were carried out ‘in support of the determined Palestinian people of Gaza, their brave and honourable resistance, in defence of Lebanon and its people, and in response to Israel’s barbaric occupation’.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) also announced that a total of 100 rockets were fired from Lebanon into the Haifa area today. According to the IDF, some of the rockets were intercepted by air defence systems.
