Naim Qassem, the new leader of the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah, said on Wednesday that the group was open to a ceasefire with Israel if the two sides could agree to “suitable” terms, reported AFP. He clarified that no viable ceasefire deal had been proposed yet.
Qassem, who was appointed as Hezbollah’s secretary-general on October 29, did not say that a ceasefire in Lebanon would have to be contingent on an end to Israel’s attacks on Gaza, a position that the group held previously.
“If the Israelis decide that they want to stop the aggression, we say we accept, but under the conditions that we see as appropriate and suitable,” Qassem said in his first pre-recorded speech since becoming Hezbollah’s new chief.
Qassem said that Hezbollah “will not beg for a ceasefire” and noted that political efforts to broker a peace deal had not been successful.
“No project has been proposed that Israel agrees to and that we can discuss,” he said.
Qassem replaced Hassan Nasrallah, the militant group’s former leader, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut on September 27. Nasrallah led the group for 32 years.
Hezbollah is engaged in a conflict with Israel, which has intensified strikes on its strongholds in Lebanon and sent ground forces across the border in the last month.
On October 22, Israel said it killed top Hezbollah leader Hashem Safieddine, the presumed successor of Nasrallah, in an airstrike on Beirut three weeks earlier.
Qassem acknowledged that Israel’s assassination of Nasrallah and other senior Hezbollah leaders was a “painful” setback for the group, reported AFP.
He said the group “has started to recover by filling the gaps, appointing alternative leaders and commencing work to organise everything”.
Qassem added that Hezbollah could continue fighting “for days, weeks and months”.
“Get out of our land to reduce your losses,” Qassem said, addressing Israel. “If you stay, you will pay more than you have ever paid in your life.”
“My work programme is a continuation of the work programme of our leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah,” he added, vowing to continue with “the war plan that he developed”.
Qassem’s comments followed Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen’s announcement that Israel's security cabinet was reviewing the terms of a truce with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
“There are discussions, I think it will still take time,” Cohen said on Israeli public radio.
As reported by Israel’s Channel 12, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with ministers on the evening of October 29 to discuss Israel’s demands for a 60-day truce in Lebanon.
The demands include Hezbollah’s withdrawal from areas north of the Litani River (about 30 kilometers from Israel’s frontier), the Lebanese army’s deployment along the border, an international mechanism to enforce the truce and assurances that Israel could act freely in response to threats.
United States President Joe Biden’s Middle East adviser, Brett McGurk, and special envoy Amos Hochstein are set to travel to the region on Wednesday to meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu and other Israeli officials to discuss ceasefire conditions with Hezbollah.
Hezbollah and Israel have exchanged near-daily strikes for over 10 months, amid Tel Aviv’s war on the besieged Palestinian enclave of Gaza.
The attacks have also displaced thousands of Lebanese citizens.
The ongoing bombardment in Lebanon is seen as a significant escalation of geopolitical tensions in West Asia.
Israel’s military offensive against Gaza began on October 7 after Hamas invaded southern Israel, killing 1,200 persons and taking over 200 hostages. Israel has been carrying out unprecedented air and ground strikes on Gaza since then, killing more than 43,000 persons including nearly 16,700 children.
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