New Hezbollah leader says group can carry on fighting for months

Hezbollah’s new leader, Naim Qassem, on Wednesday warned Israel it would pay a heavy price if its forces remain in Lebanon, stressing his group was ready for a prolonged conflict.

“Get out of our land to reduce your losses. If you stay, you will pay more than you have ever paid in your life,” Qassem said in a pre-recorded speech, asserting Hezbollah could sustain fighting “for days, weeks and months”.

Naim Qassem said will accept ceasefire with Israel under ‘conditions’. He added that the Iran-backed group is fighting Israel to defend Lebanese territory, not as a result of foreign influence.

In a pre-recorded speech, his first as Hezbollah leader, Naim Qassem said the movement was not “fighting on anyone’s behalf,” adding that Iran “supports us but doesn’t want anything” in return.

Hezbollah’s new leader said that he would stick to the war strategy laid out by his predecessor, Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed by Israeli forces last month after full-scale fighting broke out.

“My work programme is a continuation of the work programme of our leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah,” Naim Qassem said in his first remarks as Hezbollah leader, pledging to press on with “the war plan that he (Nasrallah) developed with the leadership” of  the Iran-backed group.