Hezbollah says it will not disarm under Israeli pressure - Region
Speaking during a televised address to mark Ashura on Saturday, Qassem insisted that Hezbollah's armed wing would not disband unless Israel halts its military operations and meets the terms of a ceasefire agreement signed last November.
'Threats will not make us surrender,' Qassem said. 'Don't tell us to soften our positions — tell the aggressor to stop. Don't ask us to abandon our weapons.'
Qassem said Israel must abide by the ceasefire agreement, 'withdraw from the occupied territories, stop its aggression... release the prisoners' detained during last year's war, and that reconstruction in Lebanon must begin.
Only after these steps are taken, he said, would Hezbollah 'be ready for the second stage, which is to discuss national security and defence strategy.'
The remarks came ahead of a planned visit by US envoy Tom Barrack on Monday, who has been pressuring Beirut to disarm Hezbollah as part of a broader push to stabilize the Israel–Lebanon border. Qassem rejected the American proposal presented during Barrack's previous visit on 19 June, calling it 'a surrender paper.'
'We will not be part of legitimizing the occupation of Lebanon or the region,' Qassem added. 'We reject normalization, which we see as surrender and humiliation.'
Qassem also denounced the 'ongoing aggression, killings, and crimes by Israel and the United States,' saying, 'Israel is the problem, not the resistance. The resistance is part of the solution. The continued existence of Israel is the real crisis.'
He concluded, 'We will not accept to live in Lebanon as if we were in a giant prison.'
Qassem's speech was delivered as thousands of Hezbollah supporters marched through Beirut's southern suburbs to mark Ashura, waving Lebanese, Palestinian and Iranian flags alongside banners bearing the group's insignia. Many also held up images of former Hezbollah commander Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli strike on Beirut in September.
Lebanese officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that the government is preparing a formal response to the US disarmament proposal, due by the end of the year. They also said Hezbollah's military positions in southern Lebanon are being dismantled — though Israel has continued its strikes in the area, citing ongoing threats.
Under the terms of the November ceasefire, Hezbollah was to withdraw its fighters north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometres from the Israeli border, while Israel was to pull its troops from Lebanese territory. Israeli forces remain deployed at five border positions.
Follow us on:
Short link:
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al-Ahram Weekly
an hour ago
- Al-Ahram Weekly
BRICS nations voice 'serious concerns' over Trump tariffs - International
BRICS leaders meeting in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday are expected to decry US President Donald Trump's "indiscriminate" trade tariffs, saying they are illegal and risk hurting the global economy. Emerging nations, which represent about half the world's population and 40 percent of global economic output, have united over "serious concerns" about US import tariffs, according to a draft summit statement obtained by AFP on Saturday. Since coming to office in January, Trump has threatened allies and rivals alike with a slew of punitive duties. His latest salvo comes in the form of letters informing trading partners of new tariff rates that will soon enter into force. The draft summit declaration does not mention the United States or its president by name, and could yet be amended by leaders gathering for talks Sunday and Monday. But it is a clear political shot directed at Washington from 11 emerging nations, including Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. "We voice serious concerns about the rise of unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures which distort trade and are inconsistent with WTO (World Trade Organization) rules," the draft text says. It warns that such measures "threaten to further reduce global trade" and are "affecting the prospects for global economic development." Xi no show Conceived two decades ago as a forum for fast-growing economies, the BRICS have come to be seen as a Chinese-driven counterbalance to Western power. But the summit's political punch will be depleted by the absence of China's Xi Jinping, who is skipping the annual meeting for the first time in his 12 years as president. That absence has prompted fevered speculation in some quarters. "The simplest explanation may hold the most explanatory power. Xi recently hosted Lula in Beijing," said Ryan Hass, a former China director at the US National Security Council who is now with the Brookings Institution think tank. The Chinese leader will not be the only notable absentee. War crime-indicted Russian President Vladimir Putin is also opting to stay away, but will participate via video link, according to the Kremlin. Hass said Putin's non-attendance and the fact that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be a guest of honor in Brazil could also be factors in Xi's absence. "Xi does not want to appear upstaged by Modi," who will receive a state lunch, he said. "I expect Xi's decision to delegate attendance to Premier Li (Qiang) rests amidst these factors." Still, the Xi no-show is a blow to host President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who wants Brazil to play a bigger role on the world stage. In the year to November 2025, Brazil will have hosted a G20 summit, a BRICS summit, and COP30 international climate talks, all before heading into fiercely contested presidential elections next year, in which he is expected to run. Lula warmly welcomed leaders and dignitaries on Saturday, including China's Premier Li Qiang, as the leftist president hosted a pre-summit business forum in Rio. "Faced with the resurgence of protectionism, it is up to emerging countries to defend the multilateral trade regime and reform the international financial architecture," Lula told the event. Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian, whose nation is still reeling from a 12-day conflict with Israel, is also skipping the meeting and will be represented by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. A source familiar with the negotiations said Iran had sought a tougher condemnation of Israel and the United States over their recent bombing of Iranian military, nuclear and other sites. But one diplomatic source said the text would give the "same message" that BRICS delivered last month. Then Iran's allies expressed "grave concern" about strikes against Iran, but did not explicitly mention Israel or the United States. Artificial intelligence and health will also be on the agenda at the summit. Original members of the bloc Brazil, Russia, India, and China have been joined by South Africa and, more recently, Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Ethiopia and Indonesia. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Al-Ahram Weekly
an hour ago
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Israel to send Gaza ceasefire negotiating team to Qatar
Ceasefire efforts in Gaza appeared to gain momentum after nearly 21 months of war, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Israel on Sunday will send a negotiating team to talks in Qatar. The statement also asserted that Hamas was seeking 'unacceptable' changes to the proposal. US President Donald Trump has pushed for an agreement and will host Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu at the White House on Monday to discuss a deal. Inside Gaza, Israeli airstrikes killed 14 Palestinians and another 10 were killed while seeking food aid, hospital officials in the embattled enclave told The Associated Press. Two American aid workers with the Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation were also injured in an attack at a food distribution site, which the organization blamed on Hamas, without providing evidence. Weary Palestinians expressed cautious hope after Hamas gave a 'positive' response late Friday to the latest US proposal for a 60-day truce, but said further talks were needed on implementation. 'We are tired. Enough starvation, enough closure of crossing points. We want to sleep in calm where we don't hear warplanes or drones or shelling,' said Jamalat Wadi, one of Gaza's hundreds of thousands of displaced people, speaking in Deir al-Balah. She squinted in the sun during a summer heat wave of over 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit). Hamas has sought guarantees that the initial truce would lead to a total end to the war and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. Previous negotiations have stalled over Hamas' demand for guarantees that further negotiations would lead to the war's end, while Netanyahu has insisted Israel would resume fighting. A Palestinian doctor, his 3 children killed Israeli airstrikes struck tents in the crowded Muwasi area on Gaza's Mediterranean coast, killing seven people, including a Palestinian doctor and his three children, according to Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis. Four others were killed in the town of Bani Suheila in southern Gaza. Three people were killed in three strikes in Khan Younis. Separately, eight Palestinians were killed near a GHF aid distribution site in the southern city of Rafah, the hospital said. One Palestinian was killed near another GHF point in Rafah. GHF denied the killings happened near their sites. The organization has said no one has been shot at its sites, which are guarded by private contractors and can be accessed only by passing Israeli military positions hundreds of meters (yards) away. Another Palestinian was killed waiting in crowds for aid trucks in eastern Khan Younis, officials at Nasser Hospital said. The United Nations and other international organizations have been procuring their supplies of aid since the war began. The incident did not appear to be connected to GHF operations. Much of Gaza's population of over two million now relies on international aid after the war has largely devastated agriculture and other food sources and left many people near famine. Crowds of Palestinians often wait for trucks and unload or loot their contents before they reach their destinations. The trucks must pass through areas under Israeli military control. Israel's military did not immediately comment. American aid workers injured The GHF said the two American aid workers were injured on Saturday morning when assailants threw grenades at a distribution site in Khan Younis. The foundation said the injuries were not life-threatening. Israel's military said it evacuated the workers for medical treatment. The GHF — a US- and Israeli-backed initiative meant to bypass the UN — distributes aid from four sites that are surrounded by Israeli troops. Three sites are in Gaza's far south. The UN and other humanitarian groups have rejected the GHF system, saying it allows Israel to use food as a weapon, violates humanitarian principles, and is not effective. Israel says Hamas has siphoned off aid delivered by the UN, a claim the UN denies. Hamas has urged Palestinians not to cooperate with the GHF. GHF, registered in Delaware, began distributing food in May to Palestinians, who say Israeli troops open fire almost every day toward crowds on roads heading to the distribution points. Several hundred people have been killed and hundreds more wounded, according to Gaza's Health Ministry and witnesses. The UN human rights office says it has recorded that 613 Palestinians were killed within a month in Gaza while trying to obtain aid, most of them while trying to reach GHF sites. Since October 2023, Israel has killed over 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Al-Ahram Weekly
2 hours ago
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Egypt, Saudi FMs discuss Cairo conference on Gaza reconstruction amid ceasefire push - Foreign Affairs
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, discussed preparations for Egypt's upcoming international conference on the Gaza Strip's early recovery and reconstruction, which Cairo will host in coordination with the United Nations (UN) and the Palestinian Authority (PA) once a ceasefire is reached. The Cairo conference, delayed since March, aims to implement the Arab–Islamic plan for Gaza's post-war recovery. Egypt postponed the conference after Israel unilaterally ended the 19 January ceasefire with Hamas—brokered by Egypt, Qatar, and the US—on 18 March. Over 57,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its war on the Strip in October 2023, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Abdelatty and Prince Faisal held a phone call on Saturday evening, during which the Egyptian minister briefed his counterpart on ongoing diplomatic efforts to secure a ceasefire and ensure the unimpeded flow of humanitarian aid into the besieged territory. The call came as Israel prepared to send a delegation to Qatar on Sunday for indirect talks with Hamas, two days after the group said it was ready 'to engage immediately and seriously' in negotiations following consultations with other Palestinian factions. The Israeli visit to Doha precedes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's planned meeting with US President Donald Trump in Washington on Monday to discuss a potential deal. On Friday evening, Trump said there 'could be a Gaza deal next week,' following Hamas' positive response to the proposed truce framework. The $53 billion Arab-Islamic reconstruction plan — endorsed at the Cairo Extraordinary Arab Summit on 4 March and backed by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the European Union (EU), China, and Russia — is framed as a regional alternative to Trump's so-called 'Riviera of the Middle East' plan, which critics say risks displacing Palestinians under the guise of economic development. In recent televised remarks, Abdelatty said Egypt, in coordination with the UN and the World Bank, had completed preparations for the two-day Cairo conference, including its agenda, expected outcomes, and logistical framework. He added that the conference will include four workshops focused on early recovery, private sector involvement, security arrangements, and post-war governance in Gaza. The discussion follows the postponement of a separate UN-backed conference on a two-state solution, co-chaired by Saudi Arabia and France and initially scheduled for next week in New York. The delay was attributed to 'logistical and security reasons.' Abdelatty reiterated Egypt's preference for the language of 'realizing the Palestinian state' over the term 'two-state solution,' which he argued allows Israel, whose government opposes the concept, to veto its implementation effectively. He also emphasized Egypt's immediate priority: ensuring Palestinians can remain on their land and avoid forced displacement through rapid recovery efforts, including temporary housing for displaced families. Addressing previous international proposals to redevelop Gaza's coast, Abdelatty firmly rejected the idea. 'Displacement is a red line for both Egypt and Jordan,' he said. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
