Naim Qassem was named Hassan Nasrallah’s successor after his assassination by Israel last year [Getty/file photo]
Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said on Saturday that he could not accept continued Israeli attacks on Lebanon, a day after its first strike on Beirut since a November ceasefire.
“This aggression must end. Israel… bombed Beirut’s southern suburbs for the first time since the truce… we cannot allow this to continue,” Qassem said in a televised address.
“If Israel believes it can impose a new equation by using false pretexts to attack the south, the Bekaa and the southern suburbs of Beirut, this is unacceptable.”
The Beirut strike came after rockets were reportedly fired from Lebanon towards Israel on Friday, Hezbollah, however, has denied involvement in the rocket fire.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz swiftly hit back, threatening fresh attacks on the Lebanese capital to punish rocket fire on northern Israel, regardless of the perpetrator.
“If there is no calm in Kiryat Shmona and communities in Galilee (northern Israel), there will be no calm in Beirut,” he said.
Israel has continued to carry out strikes on southern and eastern Lebanon in the months since the ceasefire, in a clear violation of the agreement. Over 300 ceasefire violations have been carried out by Israel, killing scores of Lebanese as a result.
Following the Beirut strike, Hezbollah cancelled a rally it had been due to hold in the southern suburbs on Friday.
“It is still possible to resolve the situation through political and diplomatic means, but there is a limit to everything,” Qassem warned, calling on the Lebanon state to act.
If “the Lebanese state fails to achieve the necessary results politically, we will be forced to resort to other options,” he added, without elaborating.
Under the terms of the ceasefire, Israel was due to complete its withdrawal from Lebanon by 18 February after missing a January deadline, but it has kept troops in five places it deems “strategic”.
The agreement also required Hezbollah to pull its forces north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the Israeli border, and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south.
The Lebanese army has deployed in the south as the Israeli army pulled back.
