Qassem: 'Do you think we will remain silent forever?'

BEIRUT — The Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Naim Qassem, announced on Saturday that his group "will not remain silent" in the face of almost daily Israeli violations in Lebanon, amid increasing calls for the disarmament of Hezbollah.

"Do you think we will remain silent forever? No, all this has limits. [...] You have tested us, and you want to do it again? Try!" he declared in a speech delivered on the occasion of the third day of the month of Muharram preceding the commemoration of Ashura.

This period is crucial for the Shiite community and commemorates the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, grandson of Prophet Muhammad, at the battle of Karbala in 680 AD, against the forces of the Umayyad caliph Yazid. During the ten days leading up to Ashoura, it is customary for Hezbollah's top leader to speak daily on religious and political issues.

"We have fulfilled the entirety of the cease-fire agreement. Neither the Israelis, nor the Americans, nor the local parties can find fault. We are not asked why the agreement is not respected internally, but we are asked to hand over our weapons! You ask us to eliminate the factors of strength that were in our hands and that frightened the Israelis, while the Israelis are still there and have applied nothing!", he said.

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Lebanon is not Iran

Israeli violations of the ceasefire that came into effect on Nov. 27, 2024, after a 13-month war between Hezbollah and the Israeli army, continue daily in South Lebanon. Israel also continues to occupy five strategic hills in South Lebanon.

The issue of Hezbollah's disarmament was brought back to the table this week by American envoy Tom Barrack, who called for the end of the state of war with Israel and requested new commitments from Beirut regarding the arms monopoly and the restoration of the state's sovereignty over its whole territory. This file is stagnating despite various consultations between President Joseph Aoun and the Shiite party's parliamentarians.

'The state must apply pressure'

The Hezbollah Secretary General’s statement has sparked several reactions criticizing his positions.

Former minister Richard Kouyoumjian, who heads the Foreign Affairs Bureau of the Lebanese Forces, criticized Qassem’s remarks on Sunday, saying that his statements "belong to the past and reflect a loss of position and lack of action." "The irony is that you, specifically, are not silent [...] The Lebanese are tired of waiting for you forever, especially since they’ve already tried you. You have only one choice: hand over your weapons to the army and return to the fold of the State and the rule of law," he wrote on X. Like the LF, other political forces are calling for a clear timetable for disarmament— a demand the Shiite party continues to reject.

Beirut MP Paula Yacoubian also criticized on her X account "the denial of Sheikh Naim Qassem, who masks the facts by claiming more imaginary victories, which paves the way for deeper Lebanese involvement in the regional quagmire and deprives it of reconstruction, as well as international and Arab aid." "Neutrality is the only way to ensure our country’s survival [...] Beware of the Iranian agenda, which only cares about its own interests and uses our people as a defensive line," she added.

MP Walid Baarini, a member of the National Moderation bloc — mostly made up of former Hariri-aligned Sunni MPs — called on Hezbollah to take a historic national stance by returning to the fold of the State, handing over its weapons, and avoiding exposing Lebanon to dangers whose consequences no one can measure, according to a statement cited by our North Lebanon correspondent Michel Hallak. "Enough with outdated slogans, enough denial, enough procrastination at the expense of the nation. The only viable path is that of the State. So follow it, for it is the only one that protects and builds," the MP wrote.

In a statement on Sunday, Jaafarite Mufti Ahmad Kabalan echoed Qassem’s remarks by holding the State responsible for Israel’s failure to uphold the ceasefire terms and for violations in southern Lebanon.

The head of the Baalbeck-Hermel parliamentary bloc, Hezbollah MP Hussein Hajj Hassan, called on the State to play its role alongside the Cease-fire Monitoring Committee to "put an end to Israeli aggression, ensure the return of prisoners, and begin reconstruction." As for Lebanese national issues, "we handle them among ourselves, as Lebanese," read another statement reporting the MP’s remarks during a meeting in the village of Nabi Osman in the Bekaa.

Former minister Mustafa Bayram, close to the Amal movement, also criticized the State’s inaction, urging it "to take responsibility in the face of Israeli aggression," in a statement made from Kfar Hatta, in the Saida district of southern Lebanon.