‘Everything has a limit’: Hezbollah chief says near-daily IDF strikes can’t continue
Naim Qassem again vows not to disarm, says US is pushing Lebanon to make concessions without commitments in return, as Washington urges crackdown on Iranian terror funding
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Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem warned Tuesday that the ongoing trend of near-daily Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon “cannot continue.”
“Everything has a limit,” Qassem said on Hezbollah’s al-Manar television.
He claimed that the fragile ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon only applies to southern Lebanon, suggesting that disarming Hezbollah and other enforcement mechanisms should not apply to areas north of the Litani River.
He reiterated that Hezbollah will not disarm, defying the Lebanese government’s efforts to collect the terror group’s weapons, which Qassem said are needed for self-defense.
Washington is pushing to cut off Hezbollah’s funding sources while also pressing the Lebanese government to disarm the Iran-backed terror group. Qassem complained that the US is trying to force the country to make concessions to Israel with no commitments offered in return.
“America… is putting pressure on the government to make concessions without any reciprocal commitments or guarantees… and wants to give Israel free rein,” Qassem said. “The government’s role is not to listen to American diktats and begin implementing them.”
A delegation from the US Treasury, which met with Lebanese officials on Sunday and Monday, urged them to take action to halt Iranian funding of Hezbollah.
The US “administration is very serious about cutting off Iran’s funding” to Hezbollah, deputy director for counter-terrorism John Hurley told journalists on Monday.
According to the US Treasury, Iran has transferred more than a billion dollars to the group since January.
A Lebanese official, who requested anonymity to speak freely, told AFP that the US delegation delivered a “clear and firm” message on the need to actively fight against Hezbollah’s funding sources.
Hezbollah was greatly weakened in its most recent war with Israel, which started when the terror group started firing missiles at the Jewish state on October 8, 2023, a day after the Hamas terror group, which then ruled Gaza, launched its own attack on Israel, triggering the war in the Strip.
After nearly a year of daily skirmishes, Israel launched massive airstrikes and a limited ground incursion into southern Lebanon in September 2024. A ceasefire was declared two months later, with Hezbollah left severely weakened. The agreement allows Israel to strike imminent threats.
The Times of Israel Community.