Israel must unconditionally leave Lebanon – Hezbollah chief

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem on Friday said Israel has “no option” but to withdraw from Lebanese areas it occupies, adding that the Iran-US deal that reduced fighting with Israel was an American-Israeli defeat.

His televised speech was made as Shia Muslims across the country were marking Ashura, a day of mourning for the death of Hussein, a key figure in Shia Islam.

Tens of thousands of supporters participated in a ceremony in Beirut’s southern suburbs waving Hezbollah and Iranian flags in the largest gathering organised by the pro-Iran group since the outbreak of war in March.

“Israel has no option but to withdraw completely from every inch of our Lebanese land… Israel must leave unconditionally,” Qassem said.

Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the regional war on March 2 with rocket fire at Israel to avenge the killing of Iran’s supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes.

Israel responded with airstrikes and an invasion that Lebanon says have killed more than 4,200 people.

Under US pressure, Lebanese officials began direct talks in April with Israel in Washington, and a truce was announced on April 17 but failed to stop the fighting.

A new ceasefire was declared this month as Tehran insists that its deal with the US to end the Middle East war must include Lebanon.

Lebanese authorities reported six deaths in Israeli attacks this week.

As Lebanon and Israel hold their fifth round of talks in Washington, Qassem said his group would accept “no normalisation, no cancellation of the state of hostility, no gains for Israel”.

The leader also thanked Iran for its support, considering the deal with Washington “an official declaration of the defeat of America and Israel”.

Since the start of the war, Lebanese authorities have been trying to separate their negotiation track from the Iran war talks.

Abeer Ayash, a 48-year-old who lost her home and several family members to Israeli strikes, told AFP she is “here today… for the resistance fighters in the south who are sacrificing for us and for the entire nation”.

“We renew our pledge to Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah,” the Hezbollah leader killed by Israel in 2024, “to Sayyed Ali Khamenei, and to Sayyed Mojtaba,” the former and current Iranian supreme leaders.

“We will not abandon this path, even if we all become martyrs.”

AFP

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