Hezbollah chief urges Saudi Arabia to reconcile, unite against Israel amid escalating strikes in Lebanon
(source : ANI) ( Photo Credit : ani)
Hezbollah’s top leader, Naim Qassem, is reaching out to Saudi Arabia with a bold call: Let’s mend ties and team up against Israel. This comes as Israel ramps up airstrikes in southern Lebanon, heightening tensions in the region.
Speaking on Friday, Qassem urged Riyadh to start fresh with Hezbollah based on three key ideas. First, open dialogue to sort out disputes and ease worries. Second, agree that Israel—not the resistance groups—is the real enemy. Third, put old grudges on hold. He made it clear that Hezbollah’s weapons point only at Israel, not Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, or anyone else around the world.
Qassem warned that cracking down on Hezbollah would just play into Israel’s hands. “If the resistance falls, other countries will be next,” he said, according to Al Jazeera. Long-standing friction between Saudi Arabia and Hezbollah stems from the bigger clash between Riyadh and Tehran, Hezbollah’s main supporter. Back in 2016, the Saudi-led Gulf Cooperation Council slapped a terrorist label on Hezbollah for backing Syria’s Bashar al-Assad and Yemen’s Houthis.
In his speech, Qassem slammed Israel as a colonial project, first propped up by Britain and now by the United States. He accused Israel of “barbaric” crimes, carried out with U.S. backing and ignoring international law. Tools like soft power campaigns, sanctions, and the Abraham Accords haven’t delivered victory for the U.S. and Israel, he argued. Instead, they’ve turned to what he called genocide as their last resort.
Qassem pointed to Israel’s September 9 strike on Qatar as a game-changer. “What happens after that attack differs from before,” he said, doubting U.S. trustworthiness. With America openly prioritizing Israel’s interests, how can anyone trust U.S. or other proposals? Why keep making concessions?
The U.S. has pushed Lebanon to strip Hezbollah of its weapons as part of a November 2024 ceasefire deal. Qassem responded that Hezbollah is ready for talks—but only from a strong position. The group stands firm on fighting Israeli occupation and reclaiming Lebanese land.
This appeal follows Saudi Arabia’s recent move to ink a mutual defense pact with nuclear-armed Pakistan, just days after the Israeli hit on Qatar, Al Jazeera reports.
On the ground, the violence continues. Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported two people killed and 11 wounded in Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon Friday. One attack hit a car near a public hospital in Tebnin, while another targeted a vehicle in Ansar.
Israel’s military says it took out Hezbollah commander Ammar Hayel Qutaybani in the south, though it didn’t specify where. They also claimed to kill an elite Radwan force member in Tebnin and destroy a Hezbollah intelligence-gathering boat in Naqura.
These raids build on strikes from the day before, when Israel warned residents in several southern towns to flee. Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam blasted Israel for bullying tactics that break last year’s ceasefire and the international oversight tied to it.
Even with the ceasefire in place, Israel keeps up near-daily attacks in southern Lebanon. The deal required Hezbollah to disarm and pull back north of the Litani River, while Israel was supposed to fully withdraw from Lebanese soil. Yet Israel still holds at least five spots in the south, Al Jazeera reports.
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