Hezbollah deputy leader Naim Qassem told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the only sure path to a ceasefire on the Lebanon-Israel border is a full ceasefire in Gaza. “If there is a ceasefire in Gaza, we will stop without any discussion,” he told AP , adding that Hezbollah’s participation in the Israel-Hamas war has been as a “support front” for its ally, Hamas. “If the war stops, this military support will no longer exist,” claimed Qassem, but also stressed that if Israel scales back its military operations without a formal ceasefire agreement and full withdrawal from Gaza, the implications for the Lebanon-Israel border conflict are less clear. “If what happens in Gaza is a mix between ceasefire and no ceasefire, war and no war, we can’t answer (how we would react) now, because we don’t know its shape, its results, its impacts,” Qassem told AP . Qassem’s comments come amid a recent escalation between Israel and Hezbollah. On Sunday, an explosive UAV fired by Hezbollah exploded in the northern Golan Heights , injuring 18 soldiers, including one seriously and 17 lightly. During the day, the IAF struck Hezbollah terror targets in southern Lebanon, including a Hezbollah observation post in the area of Markaba and a launcher in the area of Ayta ash Shab from which a projectile was fired today toward northern Israel. Additionally, IDF Artillery fired to remove threats in multiple areas in southern Lebanon. Earlier this week, the German publication Bild reported that Israel is expected to begin a ground offensive in Lebanon against Hezbollah in the second half of July. According to Western diplomats quoted in the report, if Hezbollah does not stop shelling Israeli territory, the ground operation in Lebanon will begin in the third or fourth week of July. Last month, the Israeli army said it had “approved and validated” plans for an offensive in Lebanon if no diplomatic solution was reached to the ongoing clashes. Any decision to launch such an operation would have to come from the country’s political leadership. Qassem told AP he does not believe that Israel currently has the ability – or has made a decision – to launch a full-blown war with Hezbollah. He warned that even if Israel intends to launch a limited operation in Lebanon that stops short of a full-scale war, it should not expect the fighting to remain limited. “Israel can decide what it wants: limited war, total war, partial war,” he said. “But it should expect that our response and our resistance will not be within a ceiling and rules of engagement set by Israel If Israel wages the war, it means it doesn’t control its extent or who enters into it.” Related articles: Lebanon must act against terror groups within its borders Eliminated Hezbollah terrorist was assisting Hamas IAF strikes Hezbollah terrorist in Beirut Lebanon arrests suspects in rocket attacks on Israel The deputy Hezbollah leader told AP that White House envoy Amos Hochstein had recently requested via intermediaries that Hezbollah apply pressure on Hamas to accept a ceasefire and hostage-exchange proposal put forward by US President Joe Biden. He said Hezbollah had rejected the request. “Hamas is the one that makes its decisions and whoever wants to ask for something should talk to it directly,” he claimed.
