Hezbollah deputy chief says supports Lebanon efforts for ceasefire

BEIRUT: Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem said Tuesday the Lebanese group supported Lebanese efforts for a ceasefire with Israel, after two weeks of heavy Israeli strikes that killed its leader.

“We support the political efforts that (Lebanese Parliament Speaker) Nabih Berri is undertaking towards a ceasefire,” Qassem said in a televised speech.

After nearly a year of cross-border clashes, Israel intensified its bombing campaign on September 23, killing more than 1,100 people and displacing over a million people since, according to official figures.

A massive Israeli strike killed the Shia party’s leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut’s southern suburbs on September 27.

“Once a ceasefire is achieved, diplomacy can look into all the other details,” Qassem said on Tuesday.

Israeli tanks push deeper into Jabalia in northern Gaza, residents say

Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Berri, a powerful Shia ally of Hezbollah, have for days been striving for an immediate truce between Israel and Hezbollah, independent of Gaza truce efforts.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday, however, that Tehran backed efforts for a “simultaneous” ceasefire in both Lebanon and the Palestinian territory.

Qassem, who has taken over until a new Hezbollah leader is announced, said the group’s military capacities and leadership were still strong despite the heavy Israeli bombardment.

“The party’s leadership and the resistance (Hezbollah) are meticulously organised… We have overcome painful blows,” he said.

“I would like to reassure you that our capabilities are fine,” he said, speaking of “hundreds of rockets” fired at Israel.

Since the Gaza Strip war began a year ago, Israel and Hezbollah have engaged in near-daily cross-border clashes, with Hezbollah saying it is acting in solidarity with its ally Hamas in the Palestinian territory.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials have stressed the need to secure the north near the border with Lebanon so uprooted residents can return home.

“Netanyahu says he wants to bring back” the displaced to their homes in northern Israel, Qassem said.

But “we say that many more residents will be forced to flee” their homes, he warned.

Qassem added that an election for a new Hezbollah secretary-general would be held “according to the regulations” and the result would then be announced, but he did not give a clear timeline.

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