New Hezbollah Chief Qassem boasts of drone attack on Netanyahu’s home, says terror group 'won’t beg' for ceasefire

Hezbollah’s new leader, Naim Qassem, sounded a defiant note in his first speech as the group’s secretary-general on Wednesday, claiming the group would “not beg” for a ceasefire while boasting about the drone strike on the home of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Caesarea, and other attacks that sent millions of Israelis into their bomb shelters.

Qassem began his address by thanking the group for appointing him as leader and vowed to follow the path set by his predecessor Hassan Nasrallah. He offered condolences for both Nasrallah and his designated successor Hashem Safi al-Din, as well as Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, all of whom were recently killed by Israeli strikes.

The top Hezbollah leader further claimed that Hezbollah forces only opened a “support front” against Israel to help the Palestinian struggle, while claiming it was Israel – with its alleged beeper explosion attacks – that started the war “against Lebanon.”

“We are facing an American, European and global war aimed at ending resistance and our peoples,” Qassem said.

“We are not fighting for any agenda, but to protect our country, to support the Palestinians, and to prevent Israeli and American control over our nation.”

During the speech on Wednesday, the IDF began striking Hezbollah targets near the town of Baalbek, after issuing the first evacuation notice for the area since the start of the war earlier in the day.

While he acknowledged that Hezbollah had been “deeply hurt” by some blows, particularly the beeper explosions and the death of Nasrallah, Qassem claimed the group has recovered and replaced all of the vacant positions.

“For about 10 days now, we have been hearing about our victories,” he added, taking credit for having “paralyzed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Israelis” with drone and rocket attacks.

Qassem also repeated false claims that Hezbollah has only targeted military targets while accusing Israel of shooting at civilians.

“We were even able to launch a missile at Netanyahu's bedroom, an attack which frightened him, according to our information,” he added.

Shortly before the planned end of the televised speech, the broadcast signal was interrupted for several minutes.

“It’s a sign of things to come,” Netanyahu is reported to have commented in a closed conversation cited by N12 News.

Qassem closed by vowing that Hezbollah would “continue the fight and will not beg for a cease-fire. If the Israelis want to stop, it will be on our terms, and negotiations have not yet yielded results.”

In recent days, media reports suggest a possible breakthrough in the ceasefire negotiations, with Saudi media reporting that Qassem was nominated as Hezbollah’s new leader because he is someone who can agree to a truce, despite him being not especially popular within the group.

Despite his militant rhetoric, Qassem also said Hezbollah was “on the same wavelength as [Nabih] Berri,” the Lebanese Parliament speaker negotiating with U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein on Hezbollah’s behalf.

Shortly after the speech, the IDF announced it had struck fuel depots belonging to Hezbollah’s logistics and weapon transfer unit 4400 near Baalbek.

“The unit is responsible, among other things, for the transfer of weapons from Iran and its affiliates to the terror organization Hezbollah in Lebanon. These sites provided fuel for vehicles in the service of the terror group and served as a significant means of operating its military infrastructure,” the IDF stated.

Footage showing the Moment that a Fuel Storage Site on the Outskirts of Baalbek in Northeastern Lebanon, was struck by an Israeli Airstrike and Exploded. pic.twitter.com/uqCQjvn805

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) October 30, 2024

Footage shared on social media showed huge fireballs erupting at sites that were struck.

The IDF said the fuel “was provided by Iran as part of Iran's military support” for Hezbollah.

In his speech, Qassem noted, “Iran supports us in our project and asks for nothing in return; it is not leading its fight through us.”

🚨 Fuel storage facility in Baalbek, (northern Lebanon 🇱🇧) was used by Hezbollah, and got destroyed by Israel 🇮🇱

pic.twitter.com/jb5bdEnm74

— Dr. Eli David (@DrEliDavid) October 30, 2024

“Iran finances more than half of Hezbollah's budget, through the IRGC's Quds Force, which transports oil and money through various routes to Lebanon. The terrorist organization Hezbollah continues to store a significant amount of fuel for itself, and uses it for terror purposes, this harms and endangers the citizens of Lebanon,” the IDF stated.