Sheikh Qassem: Envoy’s Messages Do Not Concern Us, We Are Prepared for Any Eventuality

Translated by Al-Ahed News

Hezbollah’s Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem said the Lebanese resistance group is currently adopting a defensive posture to the greatest extent possible. 

“We are taking into account Lebanon’s interests and the extent to which we support Gaza,” Sheikh Qassem said in a televised interview.  

He asserted that Hezbollah did not drag Lebanon into war. “There is a dangerous ‘Israeli’ enemy that could wage war on Lebanon at any time without pretexts or justifications,” he added. 

“We do not use Lebanon as an arena, but rather we defend with our bodies so that Lebanon does not turn into an arena. Young people are being martyred for the sake of dignity and pride for all of Lebanon,” Sheikh Qassem said. “Hezbollah will remain steadfast in the south, and everything we are doing now involves a fraction of our capabilities."

Sheikh Qassim also downplayed the significance of a recent visit to Beirut by US envoy Amos Hochstein. “We are not concerned about Hochstein’s messages. He has contact with state officials, and we do not interfere.”

He pointed out that Hochstein’s words “do not add anything. Our position is clear. As long as the war on Gaza continues, our front remains open.

“Threats or negative messages do not affect us, and if ‘Israel’ attacks us, we will respond.”

He stressed that Hezbollah’s position is that “there should be no discussion on the status of the south and the borders until after the war on Gaza.”

Sheikh Qassem denied reports about the presence of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps on the Lebanese battlefield, stressing that “there are no Iranian elements in the south.” He said that all those fighting in the south of the country are Lebanese.

“The true defense of Lebanon depends on the presence of a strong resistance that says no to the Zionist enemy,” Sheikh Qassem stated. 

“Who benefits from eroding Lebanon’s strength that comes from the army-people-resistance equation?” asked Sheikh Qassem. “We are a rational and religious resistance that works in a correct manner and takes into account the interests of the people, and this is what we did in the south. We considered the interest of Lebanon and championed Gaza, and this is our position.”

Sheikh Qassem pointed to the phone call between “Israeli” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden on October 11, in which the former expressed his intention to launch a surprise attack on Lebanon.

He noted that Hezbollah’s assessment “was spot on because the enemy had the intention to expand the war towards Lebanon, and this is what the foreign press made clear, and the leaks showed.” However, he ruled out the prospects of an all-out war and said the resistance group is “prepared for any eventuality.”

“There are two possible outcomes from the Gaza war: either Biden concludes he may lose the presidential election, or there will be an exceptional event in Gaza or a political event within the entity,” Hezbollah’s deputy SG believes the Americans “do not want to open the border crossings into Gaza and bring in aid to put pressure on Hamas politically.

“Israel was unable to achieve its goals in Gaza, as Hamas is still strong even in the northern Gaza Strip, and no Zionist prisoner was released during the military operation,” he said. “America gave the enemy every possible opportunity to score a military achievement in Gaza in the most horrific ways. Yet, the entity was unable to achieve anything.”

Sheikh Qassem explained that "Hamas has demands that it is putting forward in Cairo to stop the war in Gaz. Meanwhile, ‘Israel’ and America reject them." He said that a truce in the month of Ramadan "is not yet guaranteed."

“In the Gaza Strip, we witnessed the demise of American and Western humanitarian values that they tried to export to us to colonize us culturally,” Sheikh Qassim said. “Hamas has no choice but victory, martyrdom, or surrender. However, in the face of the sacrifices that were made during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation, there is no room for surrender.”

Sheikh Qassem stressed that “each party in the resistance axis did the things it was able to do to support Gaza.” He pointed out that “the unity of the arenas is the unity of viewpoints and convictions regarding resistance and hostility to ‘Israel’”.

“When we fight in Lebanon, we are fighting to liberate the occupied territories and weaken the enemy, and all the gains achieved were ours.”