The Secretary General of Hezbollah, Naïm Kassem. Screenshot of the speech given on January 4, 2025.
Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem said Saturday that he could not accept continued Israeli attacks on Lebanon, a day after the first strike on Beirut's southern suburbs since a November cease-fire.
"This aggression must end. Israel ... bombed Beirut's southern suburbs for the first time since the truce ... we cannot allow this to continue," Qassem said in a televised address.
In a speech marking Jerusalem Day, the leader warned that if Israel does not respect the truce agreement and "the Lebanese state does not succeed in obtaining the necessary results on the political level, we will be forced to return to other options," without explicitly mentioning a return to attacks against Israel.
"If Israel thinks it can impose a new equation using false pretenses to kill ... attack the south, the Bekaa, and the southern suburbs of Beirut, this is unacceptable," Qassem continued.
"We cannot accept that Israel attacks Lebanon and acts freely whenever it wants, while we stand idly by," he added. "This aggression must end."
On Friday, Israel launched its first airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburbs since the truce began, targeting a building in Hadath after issuing evacuation warnings on social media around an hour in advance. On Friday, at least six people were killed by Israeli fire in southern Lebanon, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
This is the latest in many incidents, as Israeli violations since the cease-fire began have resulted in the killing of at least 117 people in Lebanon, according to L'Orient Today's count.
For its part, Hezbollah denied involvement in the rocket fire and accused Israel of seeking "pretexts to justify continued aggression against Lebanon."
Following the strike, the party canceled a rally in the southern suburbs at which Qassem was to deliver a speech.
Hezbollah emerged weakened from its war with Israel, which resulted in killing more than 4,000 people in Lebanon.
Qassem stated that in the face of Israeli attacks, "the Lebanese state must react." "It is still possible to resolve the situation through political and diplomatic means, but ... there is a limit to everything," he warned.
