Hezbollah leader says staff misplaced provide direction thru Syria

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem mentioned Saturday that the Lebanese armed staff has misplaced its provide direction thru Syria, in his first feedback because the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad just about every week in the past by way of a huge rebellion offensive.

Underneath the Assad regime, Iran-backed Hezbollah used Syria to smuggle guns and different army apparatus from Iran thru Iraq and Syria to Lebanon. However on December 6, anti-Assad opponents seized the border with Iraq and bring to a halt that direction, and two days later, Islamist rebels captured the capital, Damascus.

“Sure, Hezbollah has misplaced the army provide direction thru Syria at this level, however this loss is a element within the resistance’s paintings,” Qassem mentioned in a televised speech on Saturday, with out bringing up al-Assad for his title.

“A brand new regime may arrive and this direction may go back to standard, and lets search for different routes,” he added.

Hezbollah started intervening in Syria in 2013 to assist al-Assad struggle rebels searching for to overthrow him on the time. Remaining week, because the rebels approached Damascus, the crowd despatched officials to supervise a withdrawal of its opponents there.

The al-Assad circle of relatives’s rule of greater than 50 years used to be changed by way of a provisional transitional executive established by way of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a former al Qaeda associate that led the rebellion offensive.

Qassem said that Hezbollah “can not pass judgement on those new forces till they stabilize” and “undertake transparent positions,” however mentioned he was hoping the Lebanese and Syrian other folks and governments may proceed to cooperate.

“We additionally hope that this new ruling celebration will believe Israel an enemy and won’t normalize family members with it. Those are the headlines that can have an effect on the character of the connection between us and Syria,” Qassem mentioned.

Hezbollah and Israel exchanged hearth throughout Lebanon’s southern border for almost a yr in hostilities sparked by way of the Gaza struggle, prior to Israel went at the offensive in September, killing maximum of Hezbollah’s management.