Hezbollah chief says Trump’s Gaza plan ‘full of dangers,’ claims it is ‘Israel’s project’

BEIRUT, Lebanon — The head of Lebanon’s Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah says that Washington’s plan for a ceasefire in Gaza was “full of dangers,” accusing Israel of using the proposal to achieve what it “failed” to do during the war.

Naim Qassem, the leader of the terror group, suggested Israel would use the plan as a pretext to take over the land and strip Palestinians of their self-determination, but says the decision of whether to accept it was ultimately Hamas’s.

“In fact, this plan is a plan full of dangers,” Qassem says in a speech commemorating two Hezbollah commanders killed during the terror group’s devastating war with Israel about a year ago, which it sparked by launching attacks on the country a day after the October 7, 2023, massacre.

“It is Israel’s project, which it seeks to achieve through politics after failing to achieve it through military action, aggression, genocide, and famine,” he adds.

Qassem says he would not “interfere in the discussion of the details” of Trump’s plan, as “ultimately, the Palestinian resistance, Hamas, and all the factions are the ones discussing and deciding what they see fit.”

He insists, however, that “we must confront the Greater Israel project” — a reference to a biblical interpretation of Israel’s territory that encompasses not only the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, but also parts of modern Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.

Qassem says that it was up to every person in the region to resist this idea, as “the project will reach him sooner or later, according to Israel’s planning.”

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.