Nabil Qaouq, member of Hezbollah's Central Council, at a funeral in Deir Kifa, South Lebanon. (Photo provided by our correspondent Mountasser Abdallah)
Nabil Qaouq, a member of Hezbollah's Central Council, said on Thursday that the "resistance" was "ready for all eventualities," stressing that the party's position regarding truce negotiations was to demand first and foremost "an end to the Israeli offensive in Gaza."
"Hezbollah's position with regard to the mediations and negotiations underway today is the same as that of the Houthis, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the resistance in Iraq: It is to call first for an end to the Israeli offensive against Gaza," declared Qaouq at the funeral in Deir Kifa (Sour) of a party member killed in an Israeli strike.
According to him, despite Israeli "daily threats" against Lebanon, "the resistance fears no threat and is ready for all eventualities." "The South will be an arena for Israeli defeats," he said.
Lately, several Israeli officials have threatened to step up their strikes against Lebanon, four months after the start of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, in the wake of the Hamas attack. "Lebanon is not asking anyone to guarantee its security," added Sheikh Qaouq, who felt that "it is rather the Israeli enemy who is asking for international guarantees and mediation" to allow the return of the inhabitants of villages in northern Israel, evacuated several months ago. These inhabitants "have no confidence in their army's ability to protect them, they fear the power of Hezbollah and consider that any decision in southern Lebanon will be taken by Hassan Nasrallah," he continued.
Since Oct. 8, 2023, which saw the start of clashes along the southern border, Hezbollah has claimed daily responsibility for several strikes against northern Israel. Since then, the Shiite party has claimed the lives of 166 fighters from its ranks in Lebanon.
This article originally appeared in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.