Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem spoke Wednesday evening from a hidden location in Lebanon, expressing confidence in the “expulsion of Israel” from the country's territory following the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding.
“Thanks to the Islamic Republic for linking the Lebanese arena, the resistance and the people through their willingness to sacrifice, and for forcing Israel to stop its aggression,” he said at the start of his remarks.
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Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem spoke Wednesday evening from a hidden location in Lebanon
“Do not underestimate what happened in the war against Iran,” he added. “The goal of toppling the Iranian regime failed and the direction has changed. The balance of power will shift for the better, in favor of the peoples of the region.”
He said Israel’s project was to eliminate Hezbollah “militarily, culturally, politically and socially,” which he described as “the destruction and execution of a large part of Lebanese society.” He added that Israel was not only targeting fighters but seeking to “enslave the region.”
Qassem said the danger was “existential.” “We are not fighting over land, but defending our existence,” he said, claiming they had “shattered the Israeli project” and prevented it from “killing us, seizing our land, settling and realizing Greater Israel.”
He called on supporters to seize what he described as a decisive moment following the agreement in order to “expel Israel.” “We are confident in victory, in achieving Lebanon’s sovereignty over its land and rights, and in expelling Israel,” he said, adding that there would be “no pilot zones or safe zones for Israel—no yellow zones or red zones.”
He also urged building on the previous ceasefire agreement to “stop aggression in the air, sea and land, achieve Israeli withdrawal, return Lebanese prisoners and rebuild.”
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump held a press conference at the G7 Summit in France, where he repeated his claim that he had suggested Syria take responsibility for Hezbollah in Lebanon.
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Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump held a press conference at the G7 Summit in France
(Photo: AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
“If Israel can't do the job without killing everyone else, Syria will do the job,” Trump said.
He added: “Nobody could have made this deal. I mean, the JCPOA, done by Obama. He gave them $1.7 billion in cash, green cash from banks, into a Boeing 757 and flew it into Iran.”
Trump continued: “"If I hadn't been involved, Israel would have been destroyed a long time ago.”
He said the understanding was “just a memorandum,” adding that if no agreement is reached within 60 days, “we will go right back to dropping bombs.”
Trump adds that peace in Lebanon is "something we will have to work on", but says "the big deal is the Iran deal."
Trump also criticized Israel's war against Hezbollah in Lebanon, telling reporters it has gone on "too long" and killed too many civilians.
"Too many people are being killed, and you don't have to knock down an apartment house every time you're looking for somebody, because there are a lot of people in those apartment houses, and they're not all Hezbollah, that I can tell you."