Supporters of Hezbollah following the speech broadcast on screen by Naim Qassem, Friday, Sept. 19, 2025, in the southern suburbs of Beirut. On the side, the portrait of Qassem's predecessor, Hassan Nasrallah, assassinated by Israel in September 2024. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine/L'Orient-Le Jour)
No one saw it coming. Out of the blue, Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem on Friday used the first commemoration of the assassination of al-Radwan Force leader Ibrahim Akil — speaking before a large crowd in Beirut’s southern suburbs — to extend an invitation to Saudi Arabia to "open a new page with the resistance." He stressed that the region is "at a dangerous turning point" and that Hezbollah's weapons "are aimed at neither Lebanon nor the kingdom."The bombshell statement is bound to reverberate, not only on the Lebanese scene but across the region, reshaping the party’s position amid major upheavals in the Middle East. It marks Hezbollah’s first public call in years to reset ties with Riyadh, after a long period of confrontation.The shift is all the more striking given that only recently, after...
No one saw it coming. Out of the blue, Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem on Friday used the first commemoration of the assassination of al-Radwan Force leader Ibrahim Akil — speaking before a large crowd in Beirut’s southern suburbs — to extend an invitation to Saudi Arabia to "open a new page with the resistance." He stressed that the region is "at a dangerous turning point" and that Hezbollah's weapons "are aimed at neither Lebanon nor the kingdom."The bombshell statement is bound to reverberate, not only on the Lebanese scene but across the region, reshaping the party’s position amid major upheavals in the Middle East. It marks Hezbollah’s first public call in years to reset ties with Riyadh, after a long period of confrontation.The shift is all the more striking given that only...
Qassem rejects cease-fire agreement reached in Washington, slams it as a 'capitulation'
Qaani: Minimum requirement for Lebanon is a return to pre-war lines