Group’s chief has accused the US and Israel of supporting jihadists in Syria and known as on Arab nations to help Damascus
Hezbollah will assist Syria battle again jihadists and is looking on Arab nations to help Damascus in its battle, Naim Qassem, the performing chief of the Lebanese militant group, mentioned in a speech on Thursday.
“Aggression on Syria is sponsored by America and Israel,” he claimed, including that Islamists “have at all times been their instruments since 2011, when the issue started in Syria.”
The nation was plunged right into a protracted battle in 2011, as numerous anti-government teams sought to topple the federal government of President Bashar Assad. Jihadist forces, significantly these using overseas fighters and getting navy help from overseas, emerged as dominant gamers among the many opposition. In the meantime, the US and different Western nations, which demanded that “Assad should go,” claimed that “average rebels” might finally prevail within the battle.
Russia intervened within the hostilities in 2015, lending its airpower to Damascus. Assad’s forces restored management over many of the nation, however some locations, together with Idlib province close to the Turkish border, stay exterior of its attain.
The state of affairs deteriorated final week when the Hayat Tahrir-al-Sham (HTS) terrorist group (previously often called Al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra) and its allies launched a large-scale shock assault within the northwestern a part of the nation. The insurgents have pushed again authorities forces and captured vital chunks of territory in Aleppo and Idlib, additionally succeeding in surrounding the important thing metropolis of Hama earlier on Thursday.
Hayat Tahrir-al-Sham, which interprets as “Group for the Liberation of the Levant” and is usually often called HTS, is taken into account a terrorist group by Syria, Russia, Iran, the US, and different nations.
Hezbollah’s Qassem claimed that the US is making an attempt to “create chaos in Syria and transfer Syria from the resistance place to the opposite hostile place that serves the Israeli enemy,” however expressed hopes in Damascus overcoming it.
He additionally appealed to Arab nations and to the Muslim group, calling on them to assist Syria battle towards jihadists, and accusing Arabs of silently watching what is going on, evaluating it to the battle in Gaza and Israeli assaults on Lebanon.
Hezbollah, which additionally has been designated as a terrorist group by over 20 nations, together with most Western ones, started sporadically shelling Israeli territories, proclaiming solidarity with the Palestinians of Gaza.
In early October, Israel invaded southern Lebanon, ramping up airstrikes on Beirut and different cities, and eliminating a number of high-ranking Hezbollah members, together with the group’s longtime chief, Hassan Nasrallah. Nevertheless, a truce took maintain final week, underneath the phrases of which the Israel Protection Forces should withdraw from Lebanon inside 60 days and cede management of held territory to the Lebanese military, whereas a world committee will probably be tasked with adjudicating violation complaints.
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