Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem said the resistance had defeated Israel’s objectives in Lebanon and rejected any future disarmament initiative.
Key Developments
- Qassem said Israel failed to achieve its objectives in Lebanon and Iran.
- He rejected any proposal to disarm Hezbollah through negotiations.
- The Hezbollah leader said there are “no safe zones” or special areas for Israel inside Lebanon.
- President Joseph Aoun welcomed support from any country, including Iran, to help secure a ceasefire in Lebanon.
‘We Broke Israel’s Project’
Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem declared that Israel had failed to achieve its objectives in both Lebanon and Iran, describing the outcome of the recent conflict as a major victory for the resistance and rejecting any future attempt to disarm Hezbollah through negotiations.
Speaking on Tuesday, Qassem congratulated Iran, the resistance movements and the peoples of the region on what he called a “great victory,” praising Tehran for linking developments in Lebanon to the broader regional confrontation and forcing Israel to halt its attacks.
He argued that the war’s primary objective had been to overthrow the Iranian political system and destroy the achievements of the Islamic Republic.
“That objective failed and the course of events changed,” he said, adding that US and Israeli plans for Iran had been defeated.
‘Israel Wants to Swallow Lebanon’
Qassem devoted much of his speech to what he described as Israel’s long-term ambitions in Lebanon.
He argued that Israel had sought a weak Lebanon since 1948 in order to occupy and eventually absorb it, citing statements by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding a broader regional vision.
“We are not talking about expansionist intentions; we are talking about expansion,” Qassem said.
“We are not talking about aggressive intentions; we are talking about aggression.”
According to Qassem, the objective of the war was not merely military confrontation with Hezbollah but the destruction of a significant component of Lebanese society in order to facilitate Israeli domination over the country.
“The danger is existential,” he said.
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‘We Broke Israel’s Project’
Qassem maintained that Hezbollah had prevented Israel from achieving its strategic goals despite the heavy cost of the conflict. “We broke Israel’s project,” he declared.
“We did not allow it to kill us, control our land, settle on it, or achieve the project of Greater Israel.”
He said the resistance and its supporters had paid a heavy price while confronting what he described as the most dangerous project ever directed against Lebanon.
The Hezbollah leader also praised the performance of the movement’s fighters, describing the resistance as “legendary.”
“Had we not stood firm, Lebanon would not have remained Lebanon after a few years,” he said.
Military Record
Qassem cited what he described as Hezbollah’s battlefield achievements during the war, saying the movement carried out 3,185 operations, targeted 518 military vehicles and engaged dozens of aircraft.
He said Israeli forces suffered 1,347 casualties during the fighting.
Turning to diplomacy, Qassem insisted that any negotiations with Israel must focus solely on issues related to security arrangements and Israeli withdrawal.
“The ceiling of negotiations is mutual security,” he said.
He also delivered one of the strongest statements of his speech regarding Hezbollah’s weapons.
“Any project under the title of disarmament will not pass,” Qassem declared.
“Are we supposed to negotiate in order to give Israel what it failed to obtain through war?”
‘No Safe Zones for Israel’
Qassem called for using the current political moment to secure a full Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory, the return of prisoners and the reconstruction of damaged areas.
Referring to Israeli proposals for buffer zones and continued military deployment, he said:
“There are no experimental zones, no safe zones for Israel, no yellow zones, no red zones and no green zones .. Israel must leave, and it will leave.”
He stressed that under existing arrangements the Lebanese Army’s deployment south of the Litani River remains the relevant framework governing security in the area.
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Cooperation with the Lebanese State
Despite rejecting disarmament proposals, Qassem said Hezbollah remained ready to cooperate with Lebanese state institutions.
He called on Lebanese political leaders to maintain a unified national position regarding negotiations with Israel and to keep internal political questions separate from discussions involving Israeli military actions.
Qassem also urged President Joseph Aoun and other officials to promote dialogue and national consensus.
“The resistance is ready to cooperate,” he said, adding that Hezbollah had facilitated the deployment of the Lebanese Army in southern Lebanon.
He rejected direct negotiations with Israel, describing them as “humiliating dictates under fire.”
Aoun Signals Openness toward Iran
In a separate development, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Lebanon welcomes assistance from any country willing to help secure a ceasefire, including Iran.
Aoun’s remarks came after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi briefed both the Lebanese president and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on the provisions of the US-Iran memorandum, particularly those related to Lebanon.
“We are with a ceasefire and with any country that helps Lebanon, including Iran,” Aoun said.
The president also stressed that Lebanon’s negotiating track remains independent and cannot be tied to any other state, adding that any settlement must be reached through Lebanon and not at its expense.
His comments appeared more accommodating toward Iranian diplomatic involvement than some of his earlier positions, reflecting the growing importance of the US-Iran understanding in shaping developments on the Lebanese front.
(Al Mayadeen, Military Media, NNA, PC)
“Are we supposed to negotiate in order to give Israel what it failed to obtain through war?” Or to quote prof Tolkien’s Gandalf: ‘This is much to demand for the delivery of one servant: that your Master should receive in exchange what he must else fight many a war to gain! Or has the field of Gondor destroyed his hope in war, so that he falls to haggling? And if indeed we rated this prisoner so high, what surety have we that Sauron, the Base Master of Treachery, will keep his part? […]’ TLotR, The Return of the King, Bk 5, Ch 10, The Black Gate Opens.