Qassem: Ceasefire agreement for South Litani, arms a domestic matter

Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem on Wednesday reiterated his stance that the ceasefire agreement reached with Israel in November “was exclusively for the South Litani area” and not the rest of the country, while stressing that the issue of disarmament is a “domestic matter.”

In a televised address marking the first anniversary of Israel’s assassination of Hezbollah’s military chief Fouad Shukur, Qassem said "anyone calling today for the surrender of weapons, whether internally or externally, on the Arab or the international stage, is serving the Israeli project."

He also accused U.S. envoy Tom Barrack of using "intimidation and threats" with the aim of "aiding Israel."

“They thought that Hezbollah had become weak, but they were surprised by Hezbollah's political presence in the state and its popular presence,” Qassem added.

“The U.S. envoy sought to create a problem for Lebanon but Barrack was surprised by the unity of the official Lebanese stance,” Hezbollah’s leader went on to say.

Warning that Israel has not withdrawn from the five points because it wants to set up “settlements” in Lebanon, Qassem said that Israel is seeking "expansion" in Lebanon and not Israeli "security."

“We will not accept that the arms be handed over to Israel,” he stressed. “We will not accept that Lebanon become an appendage of Israel and it will not be able to defeat us,” he added.

“We are not threatening; we are in a defensive position,” Qassem clarified, adding: “The arms we have are for resisting Israel, not for the interior, and we won’t accept that these arms be handed over to Israel.”

“Let the aggression stop, Israel withdraw and the captives return, and after that take the best discussions and response from us,” Qassem went on to say.