Islamabad (Web-Desk) Hezbollah’s deputy leader Naim Qassem has declared that the group will not surrender its weapons or soften its stance until Israel ends its air strikes and fully withdraws from southern Lebanon.
Speaking to thousands of supporters gathered in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Sunday for Ashura — a key event in the Shia Muslim calendar — Qassem stressed that Hezbollah remains open to peace but will not compromise under current circumstances.
“We cannot be asked to lay down our arms while Israeli aggression continues,” he said, as crowds waved yellow Hezbollah flags and chanted slogans of resistance. The event took place against a backdrop of portraits of Qassem’s predecessor, Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli strike last September.
Ashura commemorates the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad, who was slain in 680 AD after refusing to pledge allegiance to the ruling Umayyad caliphate. For Shia communities, it symbolizes a stand against oppression — a theme Qassem underscored throughout his address.
Israel began a large-scale offensive on Lebanon on October 8, 2023, one day after Hamas fighters, allied with Hezbollah, launched a deadly attack inside Israel, killing roughly 1,100 people and taking around 250 hostages. Israel’s subsequent campaign in Gaza has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, mainly women and children, amid severe shortages of food and medical aid due to an ongoing blockade.
Fighting in Lebanon escalated into full-scale war by September 2024, claiming over 4,000 lives, displacing nearly 1.4 million people, and decimating much of Hezbollah’s leadership. Although a US-brokered ceasefire ended major hostilities in November, Israel continues to occupy five key border points and regularly launches air strikes, saying they are necessary to stop Hezbollah from rebuilding. Since then, about 250 people have been killed and 600 wounded in Lebanon, according to the health ministry.
“How can anyone expect us not to resist when the Israeli enemy continues to occupy our land and kill our people?” Qassem said. He firmly rejected Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar’s recent comments about “interest in normalisation,” declaring, “We will not legitimize occupation or accept normalisation in Lebanon or the region.”
Qassem insisted Hezbollah’s arsenal would only be up for negotiation if Israel withdraws from occupied Lebanese territories, halts attacks, frees prisoners, and reconstruction begins. “Only then,” he said, “will we be ready for the next stage — discussing a national security and defence strategy.”
Tensions have remained high on the ground. On Saturday, Israeli drones struck four towns in southern Lebanon, killing one person and injuring several others. While most attacks have focused on the border areas, Israeli warplanes have also bombed residential districts in Beirut’s southern suburbs, triggering panic and mass evacuations.
Meanwhile, US envoy Tom Barrack is due in Beirut on Monday. Lebanese officials say Washington has pressed for Hezbollah’s disarmament by year’s end, while Israel has warned that its attacks will continue until Hezbollah is dismantled. Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun, however, has urged the US and its allies to curb Israel’s military actions, cautioning that disarming Hezbollah remains a “sensitive and delicate matter” tied to Lebanon’s sovereignty and security.
