Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem delivered a pointed message on October 6, declaring that the liberation of southern Lebanon is already visible and that Israel will eventually be forced out, no matter how long it takes. The remarks come despite a ceasefire agreement reached earlier this year, with Israeli forces still carrying out operations and holding a partial presence in parts of southern Lebanon. Qassem stopped short of threatening a return to armed confrontation, but his words signal that Hezbollah has no intention of backing down from its core demand: a full Israeli withdrawal before anything else moves forward. The speech lands at a tense moment, as pressure mounts on Lebanon from multiple directions over the group's future and its weapons.

On the domestic front, Qassem struck a notably more open tone, saying Hezbollah is willing to cooperate with the Lebanese state on sensitive internal issues, including the government's push for a monopoly on arms, the economy, and national coexistence. But he drew a hard line against what he called outside interference, insisting any cooperation happen strictly under Lebanon's own constitution and laws, free of what he described as American or other foreign dictates. That stance keeps Hezbollah's disarmament, a central demand from Washington and Israel, firmly off the table for now. Qassem's message effectively ties any internal compromise to an external condition Israel has shown no sign of meeting anytime soon.