The Secretary General of Hezbollah rejects the ceasefire

Hours after the announcement of the ceasefire tonight (between Wednesday and Thursday), Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Kassem broke his silence, strongly attacking the agreement reached – and making it clear that the terrorist organization is not obligated to refrain from responding to Israel. Despite the understandings reached, in the wee hours of the morning, alarms were sounded in the Western Galilee due to a suspected hostile aircraft infiltration. The alerts were activated shortly after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu left the scene.

“We have not committed to anyone not to oppose aggression and not to respond to it,” Qassem claimed in a written statement published on the anniversary of Ayatollah Khomeini’s death. “As long as the aggression continues, we will deal with it and respond where and when we decide and we can. As long as our villages are not safe, shelled and destroyed, and as long as our people are killed – the settlements in the north will not be safe either,” he threatened.

“The result of the absurd, humiliating and shameful direct negotiations for Lebanon, which was completely rejected by broad sections of the Lebanese people, is the Washington declaration that outlines the basic principles that America and Israel see fit for Lebanon to be subject to the ‘Greater Israel’ project,” Kassem attacked in a statement.

The Hezbollah leader claimed that “the main goal of disarming the resistance’s weapons as a basis for any agreement means the destruction of Lebanon’s power, and an existential threat to the destruction of the people who support the resistance. This is a declaration of the destruction of Lebanon and its instability and the sowing of a civil war between the Lebanese for the benefit of Israel, so that Israel will receive what it did not receive in the war through diplomatic moves. This is impossible.”

“This announcement is a road map for the destruction of a part of the Lebanese people and the enslavement of the rest,” Kasem continued. “The security path presented under the false slogan of ‘ceasefire’, which means that Hezbollah will stop firing, that the fighters will leave southern Lebanon while Israeli aggression continues and under military pressure, is nothing but surrender, defeat and the realization of the enemy’s goals. This is an impossible dream, like the devil’s dream of entering heaven.”

“From our point of view, the only issue is a total cessation of aggression, a ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal,” he clarified. “The ceasefire must be inclusive. The south cannot be separated from the rest of Lebanon, and it is impossible for Israel to have the freedom to kill in Lebanon. As long as the occupation continues – the resistance will continue.”

Naim Kassem was not content with attacking Israel and the USA, but directed sharp criticism at the Lebanese government as well, which he says is leading a move that does not represent the general public in Lebanon and called for the end of direct contacts with Israel.

“We place the responsibility on the government to deal with the internal division in Lebanon”, he noted – and called to “stop the humiliation known as direct negotiations”, arguing that only internal unity will allow Lebanon to face “Israeli aggression”.