Sophia Michaels
On Friday, Naim Qassem, the Hezbollah deputy chief, said that the group would not be swayed by calls for it to stay on the sidelines of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, saying the party was “fully ready” to contribute to the fighting.
“The behind-the-scenes calls with us by great powers, Arab countries, envoys of the United Nations, directly and indirectly telling us not to interfere will have no effect,” he told supporters gathered in the southern Beirut suburb for a rally.
“Hezbollah knows its duties perfectly well. We are prepared and ready, fully ready,” Qassem said.
The group has already clashed with Israel across the Lebanese border multiple times in the past week in the deadliest confrontations since they fought a month-long war in 2006.
The cross-border rocket fire and shelling followed the assault by Palestinian faction Hamas against Israeli towns and Israel’s retaliatory bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
But sources say Hezbollah has designed its moves so far to be limited in scope, preventing a big spillover into Lebanon while keeping Israeli forces occupied.
“The question being asked, which everyone is waiting for, is: what Hezbollah will do and what will its contribution be?” Qassem said.
“We will contribute to the confrontation within our plan. When the time comes for any action, we will carry it out,” he added.
