US: Hezbollah’s sudden desire for a ceasefire shows it’s ‘getting battered’

Hezbollah’s call for a ceasefire today shows the terror group is on the back foot and “getting battered,” US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller tells a regular briefing.

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

Qassem said the group supports the efforts of Lebanon’s Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally, to secure a ceasefire, without providing further details on any conditions demanded by Hezbollah.

“For a year, you had the world calling for this ceasefire, you had Hezbollah refusing to agree to one, and now that Hezbollah is on the back foot and is getting battered, suddenly they’ve changed their tune and want a ceasefire,” Miller says.

“We continue to ultimately want a diplomatic solution to this conflict,” Miller says.