Hezbollah’s deputy leader says its capabilities intact, but backs Lebanese Speaker’s ceasefire efforts

Hezbollah’s deputy leader Naim Qassem says in a televised address that the Iran-backed terror group’s capabilities are intact and its fighters are pushing back against the Israeli ground operation, despite the “painful blows” inflicted by Israel in recent weeks.

“You see that our daily accomplishments are great. Hundreds of rockets and dozens of [drones], a great number of [Israeli] settlements and cities have come under rocket fire,” he says. “I would like to reassure you that our capabilities are fine.”

He says Hezbollah’s top leadership is directing the war and that the commanders slain by Israel have been replaced, saying “we have no vacant posts.”

He says that Hezbollah will name a new leader to succeed Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in an underground base in Beirut last month, “but the circumstances are difficult because of the war.”

Qassem says the group supports the efforts of Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri — a Hezbollah ally — to secure a ceasefire, without providing further details on any conditions demanded by the terror group.

It is Qassem’s second public speech since Nasrallah was killed. Nasrallah’s presumed successor, Hashem Safieddine has not been heard from since he too was targeted in a Beirut strike last week.

Since October 8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Palestinians in Gaza amid the war there triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023, assault.