Hezbollah to punish Israel for any foolishness on maritime deal: Official

The Deputy Secretary General of Lebanon’s Hezbollah Sheikh Naim Qassem has warned that the resistance movement will punish the Israeli regime and bring it back to its senses in case of any foolishness in terms of the maritime borders demarcation agreement with Lebanon.

The second-in-command of the resistance movement reiterated on Thursday that Hezbollah is ready to confront the Israeli regime, and it is the strength and unity in Lebanon that has allowed the crisis-hit country to deal with its problems as well as guarantee the demarcation of its maritime borders.

“If Israel creates an issue in the maritime border demarcation agreement, Hezbollah has enough power to punish and prevent any foolishness [of this regime]," he said.

On another note, Sheikh Qassem, deputy of Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary General of Hezbollah pointed out the US oppresses all the people of the world.

Sputnik quoted Sheikh Qassem as saying, “We will never accept to be under US command or obey its orders. The coming future will prove that the US will not be able to implement its plans in a region where resistance is present and there are nations that do not accept American hegemony.”

Lebanon to get its maritime riches, but anti-normalization policies in place

Lebanon has firmly reiterated multiple times that military personals are the only ones qualified to be part of the delegation in what cannot be called talks or discussions, an expert tells Press TV Website.

He stated that the US is confronting Hezbollah due to Hezbollah's struggle with Israel, explaining “Israel was created by the West to be its tool and through it to dominate the future and destiny of this region.”

“In breach of human rights and humanity, the West uses Israel as a tool whenever it wants to achieve its criminal goals without having to pay direct costs,” he noted.

Commenting on the Israeli regime’s elections, Sheikh Qassem emphasized “these elections will not change anything. There is one problem and that is; there is an occupier in our region called the Israeli regime. Therefore, it does not matter who is the prime minister.”

Sayyed Nasrallah's deputy considered Benjamin Netanyahu's threats to be nothing more than “a sound bomb” that has no effect.

On Lebanon’s future president, Sheikh Qassem said the president to-be “must be a nationalist and must reject any foreign meddling in Lebanon’s affairs. He should not be under US control.”

'Deal does not end tensions'

Meanwhile, US mediator in the file of the maritime border dispute Amos Hochstein said on Thursday that the maritime agreement does not resolve the pending disputes between Lebanon and Israel and does not end tensions between Hezbollah and the Israeli regime.

However, he claimed that the deal with enhance security in the region.

In remarks to Al-Jazeera television, Hochstein said he is confident that the Israeli regime will continue to abide by the sea border demarcation agreement with Lebanon despite Benjamin Netanyahu’s return to power.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had promise to “neutralize” the maritime deal made with Lebanon a few weeks before he was tapped to form a new cabinet in the Israeli apartheid regime.

He underscored that gas companies will start working in Lebanon and that foreign investments will flow into the country to boost its prosperity.

Experts believe this agreement would put Lebanon on the map of oil exporters.

Lebanon’s outgoing President Michel Aoun stressed in a statement that demarcating the southern maritime border is a technical matter that has no political implications and therefore no diplomatic bonds.

Lebanon and the Israeli regime carried out five sessions of indirect talks on the demarcation of maritime borders starting 2020, with the latest round held in May 2021. Since the negotiations kicked off, Hezbollah declared that extraction of gas from the offshore Karish natural gas field without guarantees to Lebanon that it will be able to explore and extract its maritime resources is a red line.

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