Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem declared Wednesday in a televised speech that negotiating with Israel "under fire" amounted to imposed surrender, calling for unity and vowing his fighters were prepared to continue "without limits."
Naim Qassem © Mena Today
Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem declared Wednesday in a televised speech that negotiating with Israel "under fire" amounted to imposed surrender, calling for unity and vowing his fighters were prepared to continue "without limits."
Strong words. But they come with a critical caveat: the Lebanese government has formally banned Hezbollah from any military activity on Lebanese soil. Qassem is not speaking as a state actor, he is speaking as the head of a terrorist organization openly defying his own country's authorities.
Hezbollah is not an independent force. It is financed, trained, armed and directed by Iran, which ordered the group to attack Israel on March 2nd. What Qassem presents as resistance is in reality a proxy war fought on Lebanese territory, at Lebanon's expense, for Tehran's strategic interests.
As Iran's own leadership fractures under the pressure of war and internal power struggles, Hezbollah's defiant posturing looks increasingly like a cornered actor playing out a script written in Tehran, whether Lebanon wants it or not.
The Lebanese people deserve better than a militia that wages wars they never voted for, on orders from a foreign power.
The UAE has suspended all flights operated by Iranian airlines to and from the country from Thursday until further notice, its General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) said, citing the US ban targeting Iranian carriers' access to airports worldwide.
Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan will hold an urgent, high-level meeting under a joint defence pact to discuss ways to support the kingdom amid attacks by Yemen's Houthis, while Saudi's top religious authority told troops to be ready to lay down their lives to fight their Iran-aligned enemy.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mounted a forceful defense of Israel's actions in the region at the UN on Thursday, seeking to counter growing international isolation ahead of elections he could lose, as dozens of delegates streamed out.
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