The Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Naim Qassem, on Monday described the Israeli strike that hit the southern suburbs of Beirut the previous day as "unjustified," considering it a "political aggression aimed at changing the existing rules."

An Israeli fighter jet bombed a building in Hadeth on Sunday afternoon, which had been marked about an hour earlier by the Israeli army, in a rare warning since the cease-fire came into effect at the end of November 2024.

"Yesterday, an aggression targeted the southern suburb of Beirut. This attack is devoid of any justification, even a fallacious one. It is a political aggression aimed at changing the existing rules," the dignitary emphasized in a speech broadcast on al-Manar. He condemned a "blatant violation" of the ceasefire that came into effect on Nov. 27. He also pointed out that Israel warned Washington before this strike, which did not oppose it, calling these developments "dangerous."

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While he welcomed the rather harsh response of President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, he considered the official position regarding the Israeli-American demands to be "soft."

"The position of the president and the head of government yesterday was good, but we call on the officials to raise their voice and make more efforts,"he continued. He also denounced the strikes that continue to kill civilians and destroy houses and prefabs.

"You don't talk about it enough," he challenged the officials.

He called for the ambassadors of the guarantor countries of the cease-fire agreement, the United States and France, to be officially summoned by Lebanon, so that it can protest against Israeli violations. This "call" cannot be dissociated from the summons last week by Foreign Minister Joe Rajji of Iranian Ambassador Mojtaba Amani. The minister notably asked the diplomat to respect Lebanon's sovereignty and not to interfere in its internal affairs, on the eve of Amani's criticism of Hezbollah's disarmament concept.

Reacting to the strike on the southern suburbs of Beirut, the third since the truce began, President Joseph Aoun "called on France and the United States, sponsors of the cease-fire agreement and part of the committee normally responsible for monitoring the implementation of the agreement, to "assume their responsibilities and to force Israel to immediately halt its attacks." Prime Minister Nawaf Salam urged the "states sponsoring the truce to take measures to end these attacks and accelerate the full withdrawal of Israel from Lebanese territory."

1701 in 'due time'

The Secretary-General of Hezbollah mentioned three priorities that must be present for Lebanon's recovery, calling on "the state and the people to implement them."

He stated that the implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 "in its entirety" will come in due course, when Israel has also "assumed its responsibilities" under this decision, by stopping attacks against Lebanon and withdrawing from the south.

 The cleric also said that the Israeli withdrawal, the cessation of attacks against Lebanon, and the release of prisoners should be the Lebanese government's top priority, calling on the government to take advantage of the fact that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is "weakened" after long months of war in Gaza.

"Lebanon will remain strong with its army, its resistance, and its people," he said, referring to the famous "army, people, resistance" slogan advocated by Hezbollah, but abandoned in practice by the Salam government's ministerial statement and Joseph Aoun's inauguration speech. However, in a clear attempt to blow hot and cold, Qassem added: "Don't ask us for more concessions. We have suspended the work of all our units at the border, and we are being asked to do more?"

He also called on the Lebanese state "not to make concessions to the enemy."

"We must stop the Israeli aggression, the Israeli army must withdraw from the south and the prisoners must be released. If Lebanon is exposed to daily aggressions and Israel does not withdraw from its south, how can we build a country?" Qassem said.

He specified that "Hezbollah and the resistance have committed to respecting the ceasefire and have favored the deployment of the Lebanese army without any violation," pointing out that "Israel has violated this truce and attacked Lebanon more than 3,000 times." He also urged the state to "act more daily" and "put pressure on the United States, France and the U.N.," calling the pressure exerted so far insufficient.

"This is unacceptable," he stated.

Qassem stressed that "the government must double its efforts on all local and international levels to ensure the implementation of the ceasefire agreement" and address Israeli attacks at the beginning of all its ministerial councils.

The leaders "have the duty to provide protection. You have the right to be responsible for sovereignty, but you have responsibilities. Strengthen yourselves more by cooperating with political parties," the Hezbollah leader stated again. "Some officials tell envoys that they are ready to impose a monopoly on weapons, while the other party (Israel) has not implemented what it agreed."

Qassem argued that "Israel's goals are clear: it wants to control Lebanon, establish colonies there, remain in the country, and weaken it so that it no longer opposes its projects."

"We will not abandon our strength, the strength of Lebanon, the strength of the Lebanese army, and the strength of the Lebanese state," he said, noting that the country "will remain strong through its resistance, its army, and its people."

The head of Hezbollah then stated that "the second priority is reconstruction," accusing the government of "being very late."

"Put reconstruction on the agenda of your meetings, develop your reconstruction plan, and start the process," he pleaded.

Qassem said that "the third priority is state-building."

"So far, we have hosted 50,755 people whose homes were completely demolished and restored 332,000 homes, while this is the responsibility of the state," he stated. "We support the president and the government in halting attacks, reconstruction, and state-building, and we will not listen to the side that wants strife."

The municipal elections

Qassem finally addressed the municipal elections spread over the four weekends of May, calling for "strong participation."

"We have formed an alliance with the Amal Movement to manage the electoral process and move from deadlock and disagreement to agreement," he explained.

He said that "the primary goal of the municipalities is to serve our vulnerable populations, safeguard their interests, develop their areas, remedy their deprivations, and contribute to their progress with the available resources."

"We must also ensure the unity of villages and cities, promote an atmosphere of understanding, conviviality, and cooperation, and benefit from everyone's attention and brotherhood," he stated.