Hezbollah in support of ceasefire efforts for Lebanon

A top Hezbollah official, deputy secretary general Naim Qassem, has on 8 October stated that it will support political efforts towards a ceasefire in Lebanon — efforts that are to be led by the Lebanese parliament's speaker Nabih Berri, news channel CNN has reported.

This marks the first time that the organisation has spoken of considering a ceasefire without insisting it is contingent on Israel also ceasing its war on Gaza.

“We support the political efforts led by Berri under the banner of achieving a ceasefire. Once the ceasefire is firmly established and diplomacy can reach it, all other details will be discussed and decisions will be made collaboratively,” Qassem said in a speech marking the anniversary of Hezbollah's intervention in the Israel–Palestine conflict.

Berri is the leader of the Shiite Amal party in the Lebanese parliament. The party is allied with Hezbollah and Berri has been a key figure in negotiations for a ceasefire mediated by several Western nations.

The United States, France and others had called for a temporary ceasefire during September's UN General Assembly meeting, and at the time, Lebanese foreign minister Abdallah Bou Habib had told CNN that Nasrallah (the Hezbollah secretary general, since assassinated) had agreed to a truce.

However, the Israeli ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely, had dismissed his statement, labelling Bou Habib's claim "ridiculous".

As such, the Israeli offensive on Lebanon continues — and has been intensified, in fact.

Meanwhile, Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks of it as the "pearl of the Middle East" and claims it was destroyed by "a gang of tyrants and terrorists" so that today it is "a place of chaos, a place of war".

In his video message, Netanyahu warned the Lebanese citizens to "take back" their country from Hezbollah — or share the fate of the Gazan citizens. In effect, some may say, he has threatened Lebanon with genocide, not just war.

Addressing "Christians, Druze, Muslims — Sunnis and Shiites alike", Netanyahu said: “You have an opportunity to save Lebanon before it falls into the abyss of a long war that will bring destruction and suffering similar to what we see in Gaza.”

Israel’s ‘war on Hezbollah’ has thus far killed more than 1,400 people in Lebanon, according to the Lebanese health ministry. At least 1.2 million people have been displaced already since last month.

Earlier on Tuesday, 8 October, the IDF said it was expanding its ‘limited, localised, targeted operations’ into southwestern Lebanon.

For those who might be inclined to read Hezbollah's latest statement of support for a ceasefire as a bowing down to Israeli firepower, however, Qaseem's full statement belies that reading:

“If the enemy continues its war, then the battlefield will be decisive, and the battlefield belongs to us,” he warned.

Meanwhile, US president Joe Biden's dispensation apparently no longer supports the ceasefire they sought to broker!

US state department spokesperson Matthew Miller has been quoted as saying "Yes, we do support Israel launching these incursions to degrade Hezbollah's infrastructure".

Some will remember how Netanyahu had described said 'infrastructure' at the start of Israel's attack on Lebanon: these were the living rooms of the Lebanese civilians.

Veteran Middle East journalist Mehdi Hasan seemed to agree in an X post where he equates "degrade" Hezbollah's infrastructure with bombing residential buildings, killing doctors and kids, and driving civilians from their homes.