Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem threatened that his organization would turn the battlefield into hell for Israel and said Hezbollah would continue confronting Israel and responding to what he described as aggression and violations.
“We will not leave the battlefield, and we will turn it into hell for Israel. We will respond to the aggression and violations, and we will not return [the reality] before March 2nd," Qassem declared, referring to the date when Hezbollah joined Iran's war against Israel.
Qassem also warned that Hezbollah is facing what he described as “an Israeli-American aggression that seeks to subjugate our country, Lebanon, so that it becomes part of Greater Israel." He added, “We will not submit, and we will not surrender, and we will continue to defend Lebanon and its people no matter how long it takes and no matter how great the sacrifices."
Qassem said that an Iranian-American agreement that includes ending what he described as aggression against Lebanon “could be the strongest card to stop the aggression."
According to the Hezbollah leader, responsibility for negotiations aimed at achieving Lebanon’s sovereign goals “remains the responsibility of the authority in Lebanon." He added that Hezbollah is prepared to cooperate with the Lebanese authorities to achieve what he described as five goals: “Lebanon’s sovereignty by stopping the Israeli aggression by sea, land and air, liberating its land through the withdrawal of the Israeli enemy from our occupied territories and the deployment of the Lebanese army south of the Litani River, freeing the prisoners, returning people to all their villages and towns, and reconstruction."
Qassem called for the option of indirect negotiations, saying that “the cards of strength are in the hands of the Lebanese negotiator," and urged withdrawal from direct negotiations, which he claimed, “constitute pure profits for Israel and free concessions from the Lebanese authority."
He also stressed that “no one outside Lebanon has any relation to the weapons, the resistance, and the organization of Lebanon’s internal state affairs," adding that this “is an internal Lebanese matter and not part of negotiations with the enemy."
Qassem also said that after achieving the five points outlined in his remarks, “Lebanon will arrange its internal situation through a national security strategy, benefiting from its elements of strength, including the resistance," while citing remarks from Lebanese President Joseph Aoun regarding discussions on a comprehensive defense policy as part of a national security strategy.