The priority of the Lebanese group "Hezbollah" the moment is to defeat Israel militarily. But it is open to any effort to stop the "aggression". This was reported by "Reuters" on Friday, citing the head of the Lebanese group's media office, Mohammad Afif.
"Tel Aviv is only the beginning, Israel has seen very little, Afif threatened during a press conference in the southern suburbs of Beirut. Our absolute priority now is to defeat the enemy and force him to stop the aggression. But any domestic or foreign political effort to achieve a cessation of aggression is appreciated as long as it is consistent with our overall vision of the battle and its outcomes."
He denied having weapons stockpiled in Beirut's southern suburbs and said Israel had used time bombs to make it appear so. He also promised residents of the neighborhood and those displaced from South Lebanon and the Bekaa that they would be able to return soon.
"Hezbollah" is preparing for a long war of attrition in southern Lebanon with a new military command directing missile fire and the ground conflict, sources familiar with the group's operations told Reuters.
We remind you that the conflict has intensified in recent weeks. Israel bombards southern Lebanon, the southern suburbs of Beirut and the Bekaa Valley. Many of the top leaders of "Hezbollah" were liquidated. Ground troops were sent to areas of southern Lebanon.
"Hezbollah" in turn fired rockets deeper into Israel.
Hezbollah has an extensive network of tunnels in southern Lebanon, both the group and Israel claim. The tunnels grew after the group's 2006 war with Israel, according to a 2021 report by the Alma think tank. Israel estimates that they stretch for hundreds of kilometers.
Hezbollah's field commander said the tunnels "are the bedrock of the battle". "Hezbollah" she had worked for years to build them, he added. "Their time has come," he said.
The Israeli military has released videos it says show deep tunnels taken over by its soldiers. One video posted on October 5 appears to show an underground room equipped with landlines. "Reuters" could not confirm the date or location of the recording.
The US Central Intelligence Agency said that "Hezbollah" possessed over 150,000 missiles and rockets before the start of the current conflict.
Israeli officials said the fact that "Hezbollah" firing an average of 100-200 missiles and rockets per day, rather than the expected thousands, shows a significant weakening.
Estimates vary on the extent of Hezbollah's losses, with one Western diplomat saying before Hassan Nasrallah's assassination that up to 25% of missile capacity had been lost.
Hezbollah has not named a new leader after Nasrallah, and the most likely successor has also been killed.