Hezbollah: If Israel launches war, ‘prepare to deal with hundreds of thousands more displaced’

By AFP and ToI Staff 14 September 2024, 11:32 pm

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Hezbollah's deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, July 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Hezbollah’s second-in-command warns that an all-out war by Israel aimed at returning 100,000 displaced people to their homes in areas near the Lebanon border would displace “hundreds of thousands” more.

Naim Qassem, number two in the Iran-backed Lebanese terror group, says in a speech in Beirut: “We have no intention of going to war, as we consider that this would not be useful.

“However, if Israel does unleash a war, we will face up to it — and there will be large losses on both sides,” he says. “If they think such a war would allow the 100,000 displaced people to return home… we issue this warning: prepare to deal with hundreds of thousands more displaced.”