From the Liveblog of
Sunday, February 2, 2025
Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem to give speech today
Gianluca Pacchiani is the Arab affairs reporter for The Times of Israel
Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem will deliver an address today at 6:30 p.m., the Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Manar TV network in Lebanon reports.
Qassem is set to discuss the latest developments on Lebanon’s southern border with Israel and the planned funeral of the terror group’s slain leader Hassan Nasrallah, killed in an Israeli airstrike in September.
Hezbollah officials had indicated that Nasrallah would be buried after the 60-day ceasefire with Israel, which had been set to expire on January 26. By that date, Israel was supposed to withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon and cede its positions to the Lebanese Armed Forces, with Hezbollah pulling back north of the Litani — some 30 kilometers (18 miles) from Israel.
However, last week the United States and Lebanon announced that the IDF’s deadline to withdraw was extended to February 18, as Israel has assessed that the Lebanese army had deployed too slowly across the region, with IDF soldiers continuing to find Hezbollah weapons caches in areas covered by the truce.
In a speech last week, Qassem slammed the extension of the IDF’s withdrawal deadline, and accused Israel of violating the ceasefire 1,350 times.
The Times of Israel Community.