Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem delivered a fierce televised address on Friday, intensifying his anti-Israel rhetoric and asserting that the terrorist group will completely expel Israeli forces from Lebanon.
In his speech, Qassem framed the ongoing regional conflict as a massive, coordinated effort by Western powers and Jerusalem to dismantle the group's operations entirely.
“Today, in Lebanon, we are facing the most dangerous stage in our history and the largest joint American, Israeli, and international conspiracy, which threatens the future of our country and our children," Qassem claimed. “The main objective of this plan is to uproot and completely eliminate the resistance and its popular base in Lebanon."
The Hezbollah leader further claimed that Israel and its allies resorted to brutal tactics after failing to defeat the organization on the battlefield.
“To achieve this goal, the enemies first launched a criminal and unrestrained war, killing civilians and carrying out widespread destruction in order to bring the resistance to its knees," Qassem charged. “In the next step, the United States and the Zionist regime, after witnessing changes in regional equations following developments in Syria, violated previous agreements in order to upset the balance of power in their favor."
Despite ongoing military pressures, Qassem remained defiant, declaring that the strategic efforts to neutralize his group have utterly collapsed. He emphasized that the group has no intention of scaling back its operations until Israel completely surrenders its remaining territorial presence in the region.
“The project to destroy Hezbollah has failed, Israel’s plans have reached a dead end, and the final victory - meaning the complete and definitive expulsion of the occupiers from every last inch of Lebanese territory - is inevitable," Qassem asserted. “Israel will leave the last inch of Lebanese soil. Be sure of that. Victory in every sense means the expulsion of Israel from our land, which will definitely be achieved. We are not people of surrender."
The Hezbollah leader’s rhetoric comes a day after US President Donald Trump said that he expects a "complete ceasefire," including between Hezbollah and Israel.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote, "The United States is committed to PEACE, and we encourage everyone in the Middle East Region to maintain their commitment to allowing our negotiations to beautifully unfold. The Markets are loving what is happening with Oil Prices way down, and Stocks way up."
"We expect a complete Ceasefire on all fronts, including Lebanon, Hezbollah, and Israel. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"
The memorandum of understanding between Iran and the US says that the signing of the agreement declares "the immediate and permanent termination" of fighting, including in Lebanon, and "ensuring the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Lebanon."
At the same, it adds that, "The final deal will confirm the permanent termination of the war on all fronts, including in Lebanon, and other provisions of this paragraph."
On Friday, Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire as of 4:00 p.m.
Earlier, the US informed Iran that Israel was not expected to escalate its strikes in Lebanon despite the deadly incident in southern Lebanon in which four Israeli soldiers were killed by Hezbollah fire.
Since the initial ceasefire in Lebanon took effect in April, 23 soldiers and one Defense Ministry civilian employee have been killed in southern Lebanon.
(Arutz Sheva-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.)