Image from the interview given by the Secretary General of Hezbollah to al-Manar, the party's channel, on Sunday, March 9. (Credit: al-Manar)
"What has changed … is that we are entering a new phase, without a doubt. But this phase doesn’t signify a change in principles, only an evolution of methods," said Naim Qassem, the Secretary-General of Hezbollah, during his first interview since taking office on Oct. 29, granted to Hezbollah’s al-Manar channel Sunday evening.
In continuation of his speech during the popular funeral of his predecessor, Hassan Nasrallah, on Feb. 23, Qassem continued to lay the foundation of a political Hezbollah, emphasizing the role of Lebanese authorities in fighting Israeli occupation and at the reconstruction level. He called for "those who are not realistic [to] get their feet back on the ground."
‘We did not want this war’
"We did not negotiate from a position of weakness, but we did not want this war … Thus, when the Israeli enemy proposed a cease-fire under U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, we did not object," said Qassem, while Nasrallah continually linked the end of the "support front" opened by the party on Oct. 8 to the "end of Israeli aggression" in Gaza. The cease-fire in Lebanon came into effect on Nov. 27, after two months of open and violent conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, while the first, fragile phase of the truce in Gaza was implemented on Jan. 19.
"We studied the points of the agreement, and overall, they were acceptable and remained within the framework of 1701. That is why we accepted the cease-fire and considered it henceforth the Lebanese government’s responsibility," explained Qassem, regretting that "Israel multiplies violations, claiming it was still confronting the Resistance and that it had not respected the agreement."
Israel regularly bombards south Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley since the cease-fire took effect, killing nearly 100 Lebanese since Nov. 27. In this regard, the Secretary-General of Hezbollah criticized the American general Jasper Jeffers, head of the cease-fire monitoring committee.
"The problem is that the chairman of the supervision committee is 'the thief who plays the guard.' He is an American, and therefore facilitates matters for Israel," he said.
"It is Israel that does not allow the Lebanese army to deploy" in south Lebanon Qassem argued, specifying that "five times, it is clearly stated that the framework of this agreement rests [only] on the south of the Litani" and that Hezbollah has, in this respect, respected the agreement by withdrawing its forces from this part of the country.
Security Breaches Within Hezbollah
Echoing former Sour MP Nawaf Moussawi, Qassem recognized "security breaches and certain flaws" within the party during the war, as well as initiated an investigation to "analyze the causes." He particularly dwelt on the "10 extremely difficult days, of chaos" between the assassination of Nasrallah on Sept. 27 and his second speech after the elimination of his predecessor on Oct. 8: "The command was targeted, command centers destroyed, communications interrupted, and several leaders fell as martyrs."
On Thursday night, Hezbollah released a four-minute video paying tribute to dozens of party cadres killed by Israel.
"We have paid a high price, yes, we have given a lot, but the resistance is still here," said Qassem. He further explained that the party had "decided to only target military objectives" in Israel to not provide a "pretext to the [Israeli] enemy to further intensify its attacks on our populations."
While the party claimed to have only fired at military targets, several Israeli civilians have been killed by its mortar shells and drones. A dozen children were notably killed in Majdel Shams, on the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, in a shelling attributed to Hezbollah by the Israeli army, which the movement denied. This strike provoked a retaliation that killed Fouad Shukr, a top party commander, in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
The funeral of Nasrallah on Feb. 23, which saw hundreds of thousands of people flock to the Sports City vicinity, according to him, reflected the unchanged fervor of the "resistance public."
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‘We want to build a just state’
The transformation that Hezbollah is undergoing, at least in the words of its Secretary-General, was particularly evident in the second part of the interview, focusing on the party’s role on the internal scene.
"We want to build a just and efficient state, capable of meeting the people's needs. Our engagement in legislative elections, our participation in the government, municipal elections, aim to represent the people," explained Qassem.
The presenter Manar Sabbagh seemed surprised: "Allow me to clarify an idea. Some might understand your comments ... as if you are preparing to abandon the military aspect and your weapons, to focus solely on political action."
Qassem then responded that Hezbollah was entering "a new phase, without a doubt," without it "signifying a change in principles, only an evolution of methods."
"Among these new equations we are currently working on, there is that of giving the state the full opportunity to act politically, to prove to the entire world that Israel only withdraws under the constraint of force and that it only understands the language of arms," Qassem explained, specifying that "we will not systematically respond to every Israeli strike as we did before."
"All I want to tell people is: wait a bit, be patient with us … at this precise moment, we need to be a bit patient to see where the agreement will lead us," said the party leader. "If we are told that the state will be enough to face the Israeli enemy, let them show us what they are capable of doing against it! We have no problem with them taking on this mission,"
"So far, the way things have been managed has allowed us to elect a president by consensus, we have entered the government in cooperation with other parties. These are two steps considered positive in the face of challenges. We must continue in this direction," he stated, welcoming the "warm" contact with the president and expressing a willingness to cooperate with the prime minister.
"Now, we want to build our country together, we want it to be strong, we want to rebuild what the Israeli enemy has destroyed, we want to resolve the economic and social crisis, restore the integrity of the judicial system, return depositors' money, fight corruption. These are all areas we want to work on." he said.
Qassem explained that it falls on the state to finance the reconstruction of the areas destroyed by the war against Israel. To the presenter’s amazement over this "new approach," adding that his party "would assist the state if needed."
When asked about the ongoing events in Syria, where Hezbollah fought alongside the Assad regime during the Syrian civil war, Qassem said that the "picture" was still "unclear."
"I cannot say if Syria will succeed in stabilizing or fall into chaos. We hope it will regain stability, and its different forces will manage to agree and build a strong state," Qassem said.
Al-Manar's reporter asked Qassem about President Joseph Aoun's statement that Lebanon “is tired of other people's war on our territory” to an Iranian delegation. Qassem rejected the remarks. "Our war is not that of others,” he said. "Those who died are Lebanese, those who were bombed are Lebanese, and our cause is the liberation of Lebanese territory.”
This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.