Qasim’s words: a maneuver to earn time or an escalation to reassure his environment?

Caroline Akum – The Middle East

Hezbollah Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem renewed the confirmation of Hezbollah’s previous positions regarding the refusal of “surrender” or leaving weapons, speaking about conditions and priorities to implement the ceasefire agreement; It is the Israeli withdrawal from the occupied lands in southern Lebanon, stopping violations and handing over the prisoners in addition to linking it to the reconstruction, and threatened by saying: “We are ready to confront.”
Qasim’s words came during a televised speech on the occasion of the commemoration of Ashura in the southern suburb of Beirut, on the eve of the arrival of the American envoy Tom Barak to Beirut, on Monday, who had previously delivered Lebanese officials a message from the American administration in which he requested an official commitment to the disarmament of Hezbollah before the end of the year.
Qasim said: “We are facing two consecutive stages: the first stage of the agreement, and the second stage is to implement Resolution 1701. Our position is that with the completion of the first stage. First, Israel must apply the agreement: to withdraw from the occupied lands, to stop its aggression, to stop its flight, to re -prison, to start reconstruction. When the vocabulary of the agreement and the first stage is achieved, we are present for the second stage, present to discuss national security and defense strategy, present to see how our country is strong in the economy, military, security, politics and state building. We are present for everything, and we have enough flexibility in order to buy, and in order to agree. However, we left us alone. We agree and give the result, we do not concern the equation of America and Israel, which threatens to kill or surrender. ”
Qasim announced in the name of “Hezbollah” to prepare for the two options, saying: “We are ready for peace and building the country, and to make the utmost energy and cooperation with what we have committed to, and for the sake of renaissance and stability. We are an integral part of the peace of Lebanon, the construction of Lebanon, and the glory of Lebanon, and we are also ready for confrontation and defense. We are people who are neither defeated nor subject to, we are people who will not abandon our country and our land, we will not give up our dignity, we will not give up our rights, we will defend what has reached these sacrifices. ”
On the delivery of weapons, Qasim said: “Do not ask us to leave the weapon, so the resistance can only continue, and we will not be part of the legitimacy of the occupation in Lebanon and the region, adding:“ They say why do you need missiles? How will we face Israel as it assaults us if we do not have missiles? ”
Qasim stressed the refusal of “normalization” with Israel, and said: “We will not accept normalization, which is a concession and humiliation of the publications.”
Reassure the party’s environment
The official of the media and communication in the “Lebanese Forces” party, Charles Jabour, believes that the advertiser differs from reality, and therefore this escalation is to reassure the party’s environment.
Jabour told Al -Sharq Al -Awsat: “If we take Qasim’s positions in isolation from the backgrounds, it indicates his rejection of Tom Brak’s plan, his adherence to his weapon, his project, and his insistence on his literature. He indicated that there is no need for a new agreement, that is, the Barak plan, as long as there is an old agreement, and unless Israel is obligated, the party will not abide by. But Jabour explains that this approach is incorrect, “because the agreement clearly stipulates the dismantling of the military (Hezbollah) military intention, otherwise the Israeli argument remains in to continue its targeting.”
Jabour notes that Qasim “wanted to escalate in his accent to say to the Americans and the Lebanese officials that the so -called resistance continues and that he has the right to defense, but he remains repeated words and is going on in the same episode.”
The question remains, according to Jabbour, if this escalation is really to reassure his environment in what is offered concessions, or is there something else in the scenes.
A maneuver for survival
The head of the Middle East and the Gulf Center for Military Analysis- Anigma, Riad Kahwaji, is seen with pessimism for the possibility of handing over “Hezbollah” its weapon, and believes that the words of Qasim, as other officials in the party, indicate the maneuvering of the lack of delivery of the weapon, which for the party constitutes the basis of its political and military existence.
Kahwaji told Asharq Al -Awsat: “The positions of Qasim and Hezbollah reflect the status of an organization that has lost its existence and the aura that he built over years, especially with receiving the head of the axis – i.e. Iran – great strikes, and therefore his abandonment of his weapon means that he has become without an issue like any Lebanese organization, which means that he will lose his political future as well.”
Kahwaji also notes that “the Iranian Revolutionary Guard still feels threatening, and it presses the party for not handing over the weapon waiting for variables that may occur in the region,” adding: “From here, the betting of Hezbollah, which works on the policy of intimidation in front of its environment and the sectarian armies on these factors, remains in order to remain a military continuous and enlightening the lack of delivery of its weapon.” Kahwaji added that Hezbollah prefers to deliver its weapon under the bombing to say that he had resisted until the last moment and did not surrender in this way.

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