Qassem confirms any Gaza ceasefire will apply to Lebanon front
Hezbollah deputy chief Sheikh Naim Qassem has asserted that any ceasefire in Gaza would also apply to the Lebanese-Israeli border, where Hezbollah and the Israeli army have been trading fire since Oct. 8.
“Stop the war in Gaza and it would automatically stop here, because the Lebanon front was launched in order to assist Gaza … When the aggression stops, there will be no more need for this form of military assistance,” Qassem said in an interview with al-Akhbar newspaper published Friday.
“We are not discussing with anyone the steps to reach a ceasefire in Gaza, because this is a purely Palestinian affair of which we are not a part. Whereas here, there is nothing that requires that we discuss with anyone the situation of south Lebanon after the halt of the aggression. The issue of the south has its mechanisms and we will not discuss or anticipate the steps in advance,” Qassem added.
“We will not discuss any matter related to the southern front before the complete halt of the aggression (against Gaza). We are not in a crisis and we don’t feel that we need to prepare answers to what might be proposed later. We’re also not in a hurry to reassure or to scare anyone,” Hezbollah’s number two went on to say.
Nearly four months of cross-border fire have killed more than 210 people in Lebanon, most of them Hezbollah fighters but also including more than 25 civilians.
On the Israeli side of the border, nine soldiers and six civilians have been killed, according to Israeli officials.
Hamas has given its "initial" approval to a planned humanitarian pause in its war with Israel and a hostage-prisoner exchange, Qatar said Thursday, as fighting raged in the Gaza Strip.
"The meeting in Paris succeeded in consolidating the proposals...," Qatar's foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said of talks Qatari, U.S., Israeli and Egyptian officials had on Sunday.
"That proposal has been approved by the Israeli side and now we have an initial positive confirmation from the Hamas' side."
Mediators pushed ahead with peace efforts as fighting raged in Gaza and as Qatar-based Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was expected in Cairo for talks on Thursday or Friday.
Ansari said there were hopes of "good news" about a new pause in the fighting "in the next couple of weeks".
But the source close to Hamas said Thursday: "There is no agreement on the framework of the agreement yet -- the factions have important observations -- and the Qatari statement is rushed and not true."
Hamas has been reviewing a proposal for a six-week pause and a hostage-prisoner exchange, a Hamas source had told AFP after the Paris meeting.
Source: Naharnet
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