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No ceasefire in Lebanon without one in Gaza: Hezbollah deputy chief

ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency

Sun / 28 April 2024 / 11:41

The Deputy Secretary-General of Hezbollah stresses that Lebanon would not serve the Israeli occupation by agreeing to a ceasefire in southern Lebanon without a ceasefire in Gaza.

Tehran -ISNA- Hezbollah's support for the Gaza Strip has hindered the Israeli occupation's war plans in Palestine and Lebanon in the present and for the future, Hezbollah Deputy Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem said Saturday.

"Those who fail to see the future, who are ignorant of this enemy, will not be able to understand the facts that indicate that this support will have benefits beyond supporting Gaza and beyond protecting Lebanon; it extends to forming a real deterrent force that confronts Israel and teaches it that it cannot cross the line," Sheikh Qassem underlined.

The initiatives being proposed for Lebanon and southern Lebanon are not viable unless they are based on a ceasefire, for that is the only means of addressing the core issue, he said.

"Whoever comes up with an initiative that entails a ceasefire in the south to relieve Israel so that it can bolster its positions in Gaza is calling on us to participate in supporting the Israeli enemy," he underlined.

"We are with Gaza and Palestine. Not with Israel. So let the war in Gaza stop first, and then it will stop in Lebanon," he said. "The threats that Israel will attack Lebanon make us more convinced of the righteousness of our confrontation and further bolster our position."

Sheikh Qassem cited Israeli reports that Hezbollah used only 3% of its military stockpile during about 7 months of the war, which yielded "great effects in terms of the displacement of settlers, inflicting great losses on Israel, exhausting its army, and giving a great example of steadfastness and sacrifice."

He also addressed Israeli Security Minister Yoav Galant, who had underlined that the main goal was returning the settlers of northern occupied Palestine to their settlements and that the coming period would be decisive, saying: "The settlers of the north cannot be returned. This war will push their return further and further away," and may even end their settlement of the north altogether.

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