Hezbollah Chief Says US-Iran Deal Signals Defeat for Israel, Rejects Any Normalization with Israel
"Israel has no option but to withdraw completely from every inch of our Lebanese land... Israel must leave unconditionally," he said.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem declared on Friday that the recent US-Iran agreement marked a strategic defeat for both the United States and Israel, while insisting that Israel must fully withdraw from all Lebanese territory and ruling out any normalization of relations between the two countries.
In a televised address marking Ashura, one of the holiest occasions in Shia Islam, Qassem said Israel and the United States had sought to launch a major war aimed at eliminating Hezbollah.
"They wanted a major war... to eliminate our existence," Qassem said. "We were able to stop this aggression and achieve a great victory... We have shattered the Israeli-American project and entered a new phase."
He also praised Iran for reaching last week's agreement with the United States, describing it as "an official declaration of the defeat of America and Israel."
The remarks came after weeks of heightened regional tensions that saw direct military confrontation involving Iran, Israel, and the United States. Last week, Washington and Tehran signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at reducing tensions and establishing a framework for further negotiations, including discussions over Iran's nuclear program.
Addressing the situation along the Lebanon-Israel border, the Hezbollah leader said Israel had "no option" but to withdraw unconditionally from all Lebanese territory it currently occupies.
"Israel has no option but to withdraw completely from every inch of our Lebanese land... Israel must leave unconditionally," he said.
His comments also came as Lebanese and Israeli officials were holding direct talks in Washington to discuss border security and the implementation of a ceasefire reached after months of cross-border fighting. Qassem rejected any prospect of improving ties with Israel, saying Hezbollah would accept "no normalization, no cancellation of the state of hostility, no gains for Israel, and no partial presence on Lebanese soil."
"Israel must leave humiliated and defeated, and that is what will happen," he added.
The latest round of the Israel-Hezbollah war flared up in early March, when Hezbollah launched rockets and drones into northern Israel following a joint U.S.-Israeli strike that killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. This prompted a massive Israeli retaliatory bombing campaign and an ongoing ground incursion into southern Lebanon. As of late June, Israel continues to occupy a declared "security buffer zone" encompassing several hundred square miles in southern Lebanon and has expanded its strikes to targets in the southern suburbs of Beirut.