Hezbollah walks back ceasefire comments, vows to keep striking Israel

Beirut: Hezbollah has fired another barrage of rockets into Israel, and the militant group’s acting leader vowed to keep up pressure that has forced tens of thousands of Israelis from their homes near the Lebanese border, after hinting at support for a ceasefire.

Sheikh Naim Qassem, Hezbollah’s acting leader, said its military capabilities remained intact after weeks of heavy Israeli airstrikes across large parts of Lebanon, and attacks that killed its top commanders in a matter of days. He claimed Israeli forces had not been able to advance since launching a ground incursion into Lebanon last week.

A demonstrator holds posters of slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an anti-Israeli gathering at Felestin (Palestine) Square in Tehran, Iran, on Tuesday.Credit: AP

Qassem, speaking by video from an undisclosed location, said Hezbollah would name a new leader to succeed long-time leader Hassan Nasrallah who was killed by Israel in Beirut last month, “but the circumstances are difficult because of the war.”

He also said Hezbollah backed efforts by Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to reach a ceasefire. Berri, a close ally of Hezbollah, has been seen as the main interlocutor between the militant group and the United States, and has been trying to broker a ceasefire.

“We support the political activity being led by Berri under the title of a ceasefire,” Qassem said. “If the enemy [Israel] continues its war, then the battlefield will decide.”

But in a follow-up to Qassem’s speech, the group issued a statement saying it would “not abandon our support and backing for our steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip”.

The statement came in apparent response to reports that interpreted Qassem’s speech as suggesting the group would agree to a ceasefire in Lebanon without a ceasefire in Gaza, contrary to Hezbollah’s public stance that the two fronts are linked.

Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel the day after Hamas’ surprise attack into Israel on October 7, 2023 ignited the war in Gaza. Hezbollah and Hamas are both allied with Iran. Most rockets have been intercepted or fallen in open areas.

The Israeli military said it sent more ground troops into southern Lebanon on Tuesday and that a senior Hezbollah commander was killed in an airstrike.

In a statement addressed to the people of Lebanon, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Hezbollah “weaker than it has been for many, many years.” He added: “We took out thousands of terrorists, including Nasrallah himself, and Nasrallah’s replacement, and the replacement of his replacement,” without naming them.

Debris covers a damaged vehicle and the ground after a overnight Israeli airstrike in Qmatiyeh, Lebanon.Credit: Getty Images

Hashem Safieddine, a cousin of Nasrallah who oversees the group’s political affairs, was generally regarded as the heir apparent. But no announcement has been made on a successor, and Safieddine has not appeared in public or made any public statements since Nasrallah’s death.

Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, an Israeli military spokesman, said Israel was still checking the status of Safieddine, and accused Hezbollah of trying to hide details of a recent strike in Beirut on a location where he was believed to have been.

The Israeli military said it has dismantled militant infrastructure along the border and killed hundreds of Hezbollah fighters.

There was no way to confirm battlefield claims made by either side.

The Israeli military said it deployed a fourth division in southern Lebanon and that operations had expanded to the south-west, but its focus still appeared to be a narrow strip along the border.

Video posted online showed Israeli soldiers hoisting an Israeli flag on the ruins of Iran Garden park in Maroun al-Ras, southern Lebanon, which Israel said was a Hezbollah rocket launch base. The IDF said it was now in control.

IDF soldiers planted an Israeli flag in Maroun al-Ras, southern Lebanon, on Tuesday.Credit: Screenshot/Nine News

Israel also bombed Beirut’s southern suburbs where Hezbollah is headquartered again and said it had killed a figure responsible for the heavily armed Iranian proxy militia’s budgeting and logistics, Suhail Hussein Husseini.

The Israeli army said about 180 rockets were launched from Lebanon towards northern Israel, with most intercepted. Israeli media aired footage of what appeared to be minor damage to buildings near Haifa.

An Iranian demonstrator holds a poster of slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah during a rally in Tehran, Iran, on Tuesday.Credit: AP

The military said Israeli strikes over the past 24 hours had killed 50 Hezbollah fighters, including six whom it described as senior commanders. Israel says it will keep fighting until tens of thousands of displaced Israeli citizens can return to their homes in the north.

More than 1300 people have been killed in Lebanon and over a million displaced since the fighting escalated in mid-September.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant was to meet in Washington with US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin on Thursday (AEDT) to discuss Israel’s response to last week’s missile barrage by Iran, but Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said the meeting had been postponed.

Men sleep at the Ramlet al-Baida public beach after fleeing the Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, on Tuesday.Credit: AP

The Biden administration says it is opposed to an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, which could further escalate regional tensions.

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters that while the US believes the Israel-Hezbollah conflict would be solved diplomatically, “we do support Israel launching these incursions to degrade Hezbollah’s infrastructure”.

Speaking on Sky on Wednesday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his government’s call for de-escalation was aligned with the position of key G7 countries.

“It’s the same position that everyone in terms of world leaders… Keir Starmer in the UK, President Biden in the United States… all of our allies and partners that we work with have said that they want a de-escalation of this conflict, that they want a ceasefire that enables Israel to continue to exist with security,” he said, labelling claims by Josh Frydenberg that Labor was refusing to stand by Israel “nonsense”.

Meanwhile, heavy fighting and evacuation orders in Gaza continued.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said the Israeli military called for three hospitals in northern Gaza – Kamal Adwan, Awda and the Indonesian Hospital – to evacuate patients and medical staff.

“The military contacted me directly and said in a threatening way, ‘tomorrow all the patients and staff in Kamal Adwan must be removed or they will be exposed to danger’. Clearly, it’s a clear threat,” said the hospital’s director, Hossam Abu Safiya.

“We have told all sides that the north is still crowded with people ... and we have the right to provide them services,” Abu Safiya said. “We are staying firm and will continue to provide services no matter what the cost.”

AP, Reuters