Salam: Hezbollah’s senseless wars served Tel Aviv
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam firmly responded to Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem, accusing the party of serving Israel through the reckless wars it dragged the country into, as the seventh round of negotiations between Lebanon and Israel began in Rome.
Salam stated, “Today, someone appears before us accusing the political authority of being an aid to Israel rather than a support for Lebanon’s sovereignty, and then calls for dialogue and unity as if Lebanese people have no memory. The truth is that the greatest aid to Israel was provided by those who unilaterally brought Lebanon into reckless proxy war adventures, giving it pretexts to attack our country, trample its sovereignty, destroy its cities and villages, kill its sons, and displace hundreds of thousands.”
He added, “He who unilaterally decided on war and attempts to continue usurping state authority, linking Lebanon to external agendas and axes while ignoring the interests of his constituency and Lebanese people in general, has no right to distribute certificates of patriotism, let alone sovereignty.”
“There is no sovereignty for Lebanon except through a single independent decision by a state with one army, which exerts its authority over its entire territory exclusively through its own forces,” he continued.
“Regarding dialogue and unity, they cannot be built except by courageously acknowledging painful truths and accepting responsibility for the rash choices that Lebanese people are still paying dearly for,” he stressed.
He emphasized that “the state remains a haven for all Lebanese, especially for our people who have suffered successive losses. It remains committed to removing the Israeli occupation from every inch of our land and repatriating all our prisoners, and committed to ensuring the conditions for the dignified and safe return of our people to their cities, villages, fields, and homes, and to their reconstruction, which will help soothe the wounds of all families who have lost their loved ones and livelihoods.”
Earlier, Qassem said in a speech on the 40th day of mourning for Hussein that “the political authority in Lebanon was an aid to Israel rather than a support for Lebanon’s sovereignty.” He attacked President Joseph Aoun, claiming that “the President has not acted as an arbitrator and unifier but has become a partisan and divider, which never aligns with his role or with Lebanon’s strength.”
He called for “stopping free concessions and opening the door for dialogue” with his party, and believed that the US-Iran memorandum was what reduced the pace of aggression, adding that “its trajectory is what will achieve the Israeli withdrawal.”
Qassem affirmed “the importance and necessity of the fraternal, positive, and cooperative relationship between Lebanon and Syria,” adding, “A stable Syria is a support for Lebanon, just as a stable Lebanon is a support for Syria. There is no obstacle to a public meeting between Hezbollah and the Syrian leadership at a time deemed appropriate by both sides.” He expressed hope that “Syria will succeed in establishing justice and cooperation among all its components, remain united, and expel the Israeli enemy from all its occupied territories.”
Meanwhile, the seventh round of Lebanese-Israeli negotiations began in the Italian capital, set to last three days, amid doubts about the possibility of achieving a breakthrough that would push Israel to agree to withdraw from a second experimental zone.
It is expected that discussions will address agreeing on a third country to join the membership of the mechanism for verifying the withdrawal of Hezbollah’s weapons, amid reports of Italy advancing a role in this regard, especially given information indicating that the United States does not want to deploy American soldiers on the ground in the south, but may limit itself to supervision, monitoring, and training.
