Hezbollah not fighting for Iran, but to liberate Lebanese territory, new leader says

ISTANBUL (AA) – The new chief of Hezbollah has said that his group is not fighting on behalf of Iran, but to protect and liberate Lebanese territory.

“We in Lebanon are not fighting on behalf of Iran or to implement its project, but to protect and liberate our land,” Naim Qassem said in a recorded speech.

“For 11 months we said that we do not want war, but we are ready if it is imposed on us.”

Qassem had been elected on Tuesday as Hezbollah chief, succeeding Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut last month.

“My program is to continue Nasrallah’s approach,” he said.

“Resistance exists to liberate the land and confront the occupation and its expansionist intentions in the region,” Qassem stressed.

The Hezbollah leader said support for Gaza was necessary to “confront the danger posed by Israel to the region through the Gaza Strip, and the people of Gaza have a humanitarian, Arab, Islamic, and national right for all of us to support them.”

“This war is not just Israeli; it is also American, European, and global, involving all resources to eradicate the resistance and the peoples of the region, using all brutality, extermination, and criminality.”

Israel last month launched a massive air campaign in Lebanon against “Hezbollah targets” in an escalation from a year of cross-border warfare between Israel and the group.

Over 2,700 people have been killed and nearly 12,500 injured in Israeli attacks since October last year, according to Lebanese health authorities.

Israel invaded southern Lebanon last month.