BEIRUT: The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group warned Saturday that if Israel’s attacks on Lebanon continue and the Lebanese state does not act to stop them, the group will eventually resort to other alternatives.
Naim Kassem’s comments came a day after Israel launched an attack on Lebanon’s capital for the first time since a ceasefire ended the latest Israel-Hezbollah war in November. The strike on Beirut came hours after two rockets were fired from Lebanon toward Israel and Hezbollah denied it fired them.
There was no immediate response from Israeli officials.
Kassem was supposed to give his speech on Friday to mark Jerusalem Day that is usually held on the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. However, it was postponed because of the Israeli airstrikes on different parts of Lebanon including a suburb of the capital.
Jerusalem Day is an annual international day launched by Iran’s first supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1979 in which Iranians and many of their allies show support for the Palestinians.
Under the US-brokered ceasefire that end the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war, Israeli forces were supposed to withdraw from all Lebanese territory by late January while Hezbollah had to end its armed presence south of the Litani river along the border with Israel.
The deadline was extended to Feb. 18, but Israel has remained in five border locations while carrying out dozens of strikes on what it said were Hezbollah targets in southern and eastern Lebanon. Last week, Israeli airstrikes on several locations in Lebanon killed six people while an airstrike on a southern village on Friday killed three and wounded 18, most of them women and children.
“We fully complied and we have no presence south of the Litani but Israel did not abide. Israel is carrying aggressions every day,” Kassem said in his televised speech Saturday night.
“These (Israeli strikes) are not violations. They are an aggression that crossed all limits,” Kassem added. He said Israel appears to be pressuring Lebanon to normalize relations with it, a move the Hezbollah totally rejects.
“Israel will not get during peace time what it was not able to achieve by war,” he said. “Let everyone know that this resistance (Hezbollah) is present and ready and at the same time is committed to the agreement.”
But Kassem warned that if Israel does not abide by the deal and the Lebanese state is not able to impose the implementation of the deal through political means, then “we will have to resort to other alternatives.” It was an apparent reference that Hezbollah might resort to its weapons to fight Israeli troops inside Lebanon.
“We will not allow anyone to deprive us from using our force and capabilities to confront this enemy,” said Kassem. He added that Hezbollah “is not weak in facing the projects of America and Israel.”
“Our patience so far aims to give a chance to solutions that could reduce the pains and casualties,” Kassem said.
Hezbollah began launching rockets, drones and missiles into Israel the day after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel by its Hamas allies ignited the war in Gaza. Palestinian militants killed about 1,200 in Israel and abducted 251 others during the 2023 attack.
The Israel-Hezbollah conflict exploded into all-out war last September when Israel carried out waves of airstrikes and killed most of the militant group’s senior leaders. The fighting killed over 4,000 people in Lebanon and displaced about 60,000 Israelis.