Hezbollah Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem stressed that his party rejects the “Framework Agreement” and calls for its downfall, considering it “illegitimate, illegal, humiliating, destroys Lebanese sovereignty and does not restore rights,” stressing at the same time its adherence to the November 27, 2024 agreement under the ceiling of Resolution 1701 and the rejection of any other formula.
Qassem’s words came during a speech at the central Prophetic festival, “The Messenger of the Free,” in Ashura Square in the southern suburb of Beirut, on the occasion of the birth of the Noble Messenger and his grandson, Imam Jaafar al-Sadiq, and Islamic Unity Week.
Qassem said, “Islamic unity is the orientation towards the true enemy of the nation and the exit from internal conflicts,” considering that it has two results. The first is “to be united to prevent strife and for this unity to extend to national and humanitarian unity,” and the second is “to be united around the central issue of Palestine, which expresses the future of the entire region.”
He added that “the issue of Palestine is not a sectarian issue, but rather an Islamic, national, Arab and humanitarian issue,” calling on the Arab and Islamic countries and their peoples to unite and not stand idly by in the face of the entry of enemies into the region and the suffering of its peoples, considering that “it is time for our region to be secure through understanding between its countries and to put an end to arrogance.”
Qassem touched on Imam Sayyid Musa al-Sadr, noting that he was kidnapped and disappeared with his two companions on August 31, and that he “warned early about the dangers of the Zionist entity” and launched the slogan “Israel is absolute evil.” He also paid exceptional attention to southern Lebanon, and used to say that “Lebanon cannot smile while its south is tormented and suffering.”
He added that Imam al-Sadr, while seeking to rid the south of Israeli occupation and aggression, was also interested in political and social reform.
Qassem recalled the former Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Mr. Hassan Nasrallah, and said: “We must remember with all glory and pride the master of the nation’s martyrs, Mr. Hassan Nasrallah,” stressing that the party will continue “on the path of the Imam of Resistance, Mr. Musa al-Sadr, and the path of the master of the nation’s martyrs, Mr. Hassan Nasrallah.”
On the political side, Qassem said that there is “an aggressive American-Israeli project to control and fragment the region that Iran and the resistance forces are facing,” considering that the region is witnessing “unusual events,” and that the United States is “paving the way to increase control and prepare the necessary preliminaries for the establishment of Greater Israel, taking advantage of its ability and strength and taking advantage of the subjugation that exists in our region.”
He stressed that “the enemies did not leave any opportunity for aggression, but they did not and will not succeed in achieving their goals,” considering that the great sacrifices made in Palestine, Lebanon, Iran, Yemen and Iraq “stopped the Zionist-American project targeting the region.”
He said: “We sacrificed a lot and we will not lose, and the loss comes when we surrender and give them into our own hands and they take everything.”
Qassem attacked the path taken by the Lebanese authority, considering that it “chose a path that does not honor Lebanon by abandoning the October 27 agreement and entering direct negotiations with the enemy.”
He added that “the Lebanese authority’s negotiations did not stop the war, but rather gave it legitimacy, which is a humiliating surrender to the enemy without any return,” considering that “the honorable people, the resistors, the sacrificers, and those in solidarity with them from all sects are innocent of the authority’s concessions to the enemy.”
He addressed the Lebanese authority by saying: “Who authorized you to give up sovereignty?”, adding: “You are paying the country a price in the negotiations for remaining on your thrones and pleasing America, which is complicit with Israel.”
Qassem stressed that the party does not want war, and said: “We do not want war, and the evidence is our approval of the October 27, 2024 agreement and our commitment to it,” adding that “what exists today is not a mutual war, but rather a described Israeli aggression that escalates and decreases, and had it not been for Iran and the memorandum of understanding, it would not have decreased.”
He said, “The Israel project is Greater Israel, and the evidence is what is happening in Syria,” stressing: “We will remain in the field and will not accept the projects they are talking about.”
He addressed those who believe that negotiations are better than war by saying: “Did your negotiations stop the war?” adding that “negotiations take place under war and give legitimacy to the war.”
He continued: “We broke the Greater Israel project and prevented it from reaching Beirut and stripping Lebanon of its power,” considering that Israel “does not dare today to establish a settlement in southern Lebanon because it is unstable with the presence of the resistance.” He also said that the Israeli “does not dare to draw borders outside the lands it occupied because it fears the resistance, its people, and the free.”
Qassem stressed, “We are in a state of confrontation, and we will remain steadfast and accept the implementation of the October 27, 2024 agreement under the umbrella of Resolution 1701 and nothing else.”
He stressed that the party is “against the framework agreement,” calling for its downfall. He said: “It is illegitimate, illegal, and humiliating. It destroys Lebanese sovereignty and does not restore rights.”
He added: “Whoever has this resistance, these sacrificing youth, and a people who sacrifice for their homeland cannot be defeated,” considering that Israel “cannot achieve achievements with the presence of the resistance, its people, the honorable people, the martyrs, and the sacrifices.”
At the end of his speech, Qasim said, “The sacrifices of our people are great,” stressing the work for their dignity and the continuation of social assistance, reconstruction, and restoration. He added: “We will keep our heads held high and will not surrender, and let them do whatever they want.”
