BEIRUT, Lebanon, May 12 (ANI): Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem has declared that the group’s military capabilities are strictly an internal Lebanese matter and will not be part of any negotiations amid the ongoing conflict with Israel.
According to a report by Al Jazeera, the Hezbollah chief adopted a defiant tone against Israeli military pressure, vowing that the group remains prepared for a prolonged confrontation.
“We will not abandon the field. We will turn it into hell for Israel,” Qassem said during a televised address.
The Hezbollah leader outlined a framework for future cooperation with the Lebanese government centered on five objectives: securing Lebanese sovereignty by ending Israeli military operations, ensuring a full Israeli withdrawal from occupied territories, securing the release of detainees, facilitating the return of displaced residents to southern Lebanon, and carrying out large-scale reconstruction.
Qassem was particularly firm regarding foreign involvement in Lebanon’s internal affairs.
“No one outside Lebanon has any say in the weapons, the resistance or the organisation of Lebanon’s internal affairs,” he stated.
According to Al Jazeera, Qassem emphasized that Hezbollah’s weapons are not open for discussion with international mediators.
“This is an internal Lebanese matter and not part of negotiations with the enemy. After Lebanon achieves the five points, it will organise its internal affairs with a national security strategy, leveraging its strengths, including the resistance,” he said.
The remarks come as tensions between Lebanon and Israel remain highly volatile despite a US-brokered ceasefire that began on April 17 and was later extended. The ceasefire is widely viewed as ineffective, with hostilities continuing across southern Lebanon.
Reports indicate that Israeli forces continue to maintain positions inside a buffer zone in southern Lebanon, controlling approximately 6 percent of Lebanese territory since March.
According to Al Jazeera, the humanitarian impact of the conflict has been severe. Israeli military operations in Lebanon have reportedly resulted in more than 2,840 deaths and over 8,700 injuries, while more than one million people have been displaced since the escalation began on March 2.
Israeli strikes have continued across multiple regions of Lebanon, including Beirut’s southern suburbs known as Dahiyeh, as well as areas beyond the Litani River. Many of the attacks have reportedly followed evacuation warnings issued to civilians.
In response, Hezbollah has continued launching drone and rocket attacks targeting Israeli military positions in southern Lebanon and northern Israel, according to Al Jazeera.
The latest escalation marks another chapter in the long-running instability between Israel and Hezbollah following the 2024 Lebanon war. (ANI)
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