Hezbollah Backtracks on Ceasefire Linkage to Gaza

Hezbollah’s deputy chief Naim Qassem issued a statement on Tuesday afternoon declaring that there is "a new calculation" that he believed would bring about a satisfactory end to the conflict with Israel. “The solution is a ceasefire, we are not speaking from a position of weakness,” Qassem insisted. “If the Israelis do not want that, we will continue...we were asked to stop the fighting and get more than 10 kilometers away from the border so as not to provoke Israel, but we stuck to our demand for a ceasefire in Gaza and didn’t agree to the request to separate Lebanon from Gaza.”

He added that Hezbollah supports “the Palestinians and aids them in distancing the danger from them and preventing Israel’s expansion.”

In regards to the evacuated civilian residents of northern Israel, he declared that “the number of uninhabited settlements will increase, and hundreds of thousands, even more than two million, will be in danger at any time, at any hour, on any day.”

“We will focus on targeting the Israeli military and its centers and barracks. Hezbollah is strong despite the tough hits we’ve taken, and we’ve recovered our capabilities on the battlefield.”

The statement was met with bemused incredulity among Israeli officials.

“I heard Naim Qassem’s speech — he is wrong just like his predecessors and those who came before them,” said President Isaac Herzog during a visit to meet hospitalized soldiers in Haifi. “Not only is he wrong — I presume his day will come as well.”

“He’s not only wrong in his disrespect to the State of Israel and its citizens. He is trying to make people forget the bitter truth — he and his friends have brought disaster upon Lebanon.”