Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem on Friday evening addressed the pressure the United States is exerting on Lebanon to disarm the organization.
In a speech, Qassem claimed that the purpose of this pressure is to "appease Israel and meet its demands," while legitimizing Israeli strikes on Lebanese territory.
Qassem stated, “If some choose to accept this humiliation, that is their affair. We will not accept humiliation. We have sacrificed greatly, and Israel will not take our weapons.”
He argued that the core issue is not the disarmament itself but the intention behind it: “This is a step toward Israeli expansion. Our weapons are an obstacle because they allowed Lebanon to stand on its feet and prevented Israel from expanding.”
Later in his remarks, Qassem responded to claims linking Hezbollah’s arms to the question of an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon.
“Some ask how Israel can withdraw from southern Lebanon if Hezbollah remains armed, but it is Israel that is attacking. Why does it strike Syria when there is no threat? Under the pretext of Israel’s security, there is no place that has not been occupied, attacked, or searched.”
Qassem claimed that over the past eight months, Israel has violated the ceasefire agreement thousands of times. “For eight months, Zionist aggression has continued. The entire world says Israel has violated the agreement 3,800 times. They realized the agreement favored Lebanon, so they decided to revise it and turned to pressure on the ground in hopes of forcing changes. None of this pressure has altered the agreement.”
The Hezbollah leader further claimed that Hezbollah has honored all of its commitments, in contrast to Israel. “Hezbollah fully implemented the ceasefire agreement in the area south of the Litani River, and the Lebanese state deployed its army wherever possible. We, as Lebanon and as Hezbollah, fulfilled everything required of us under the agreement. Israel did not implement anything,” he concluded.
Hezbollah sustained significant losses in its conflict with Israel last year, which concluded with a ceasefire agreement in November.
Israel has continued to strike Hezbollah targets in Lebanon since the ceasefire went into effect, due to the fact that the terrorist organization has continued to reestablish its infrastructure in violation of the agreement.
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)