Israel extensively bombed the Lebanon this Wednesday, particularly the historic city of Baalbek and its surroundings, on a day when Hezbollahthrough the mouth of their new leader Naim Qasem He reaffirmed that the group is willing to a ceasefire “with conditions.”
In his first public appearance since his appointment as leader of the Shiite group was announced on Tuesday, Qasem, a septuagenarian cleric, affirmed that Hezbollah still has the capacity to continue confronting Israel “for months,” asking for “patience” from his fighters and the population of Lebanon and predicted to the Israelis that if they remain in the country of the cedars they will see “defeat.”
However, Qasem, who for 30 years was the organization’s second in command after Hasan Nasrallahkilled in an Israeli bombing at the end of September, also assured that his group is willing to maintain “indirect” negotiations with Israel to reach a truce that puts an end to more than a year of war.
«If the enemy decides (to agree) to a ceasefire, we will say yes, but with conditions. The way will be to maintain indirect negotiations for this purpose.”said the cleric, who at the beginning of October – when he was Hezbollah’s number two – gave his support to truce talks mediated by the president of the Lebanese Parliament, Nabih Berri.
In that same speech, in which he was seen serene and flanked by the flags of Hezbollah, Lebanon and a portrait of Nasrallah, Qasem affirmed that the Lebanese Shiite group will continue with “the same war plan” against Israel drawn up by his predecessor. , which always promised that the group would cease its attacks against Israel if a truce was reached in Gaza.
“We always said that we do not want war, but we are prepared if it has been imposed on us and we will do it firmly and we will triumph, God willing”Qasem insisted, stating that Hezbollah’s only objective “is to protect Lebanon” and “support Palestine.”
In this sense, he acknowledged that in more than a year of conflict, which worsened exponentially in the last month, Hezbollah “has paid the price for the liberation convictions,” in reference to the dozens of deaths of senior Hezbollah officials and several hundreds of its militants.
However, he insisted on the group’s “need” to respond to Israel’s “brutality” in Gaza and Lebanon.
world heritage
And as he spoke, Israeli warplanes bombed the historic city of Baalbek – declared UNESCO World Heritage Site – and other neighboring towns in eastern Lebanon after ordering all residents to leave the area.
According to the Lebanese National News Agency (ANN)several towns in the region, located in the east of the country and predominantly Shiite, which were not included in the Israeli evacuation edicts, were also attacked.
Lebanese media also highlighted that this is the first time in which the complete evacuation of a city – Baalbek – has been ordered, before proceeding to bomb it so far in the conflict, which has so far resulted in more than 2,700 deaths and more. of 1.2 million displaced people in Lebanon alone.
The evacuation of the area was massive.
The city of Nabatiyain southern Lebanon, was also the target of a series of attacks launched by Israeli warplanes, which targeted the Nuns neighborhood, with three attacks that destroyed three residential buildings. EFE (I)
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