BEIRUT: Hezbollah welcomes any effort to stop the war in Lebanon but does not pin hopes for a ceasefire on any particular US administration, Hezbollah lawmaker Ibrahim al-Moussawi said on Thursday when asked about Donald Trump’s election victory.
“It might be a change in the party who is in power, but when it comes to Israel, they have more or less the same policy,” Moussawi told Reuters. “We want to see actions, we want to see decisions taken.”
Israel and Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah have exchanged fire for more than a year, in parallel with the Gaza war, but fighting has escalated since late September, with Israeli troops intensifying bombing of Lebanon’s south and east and making ground incursions into border villages.
Israel says it is targeting Hezbollah infrastructure and military assets, while avoiding civilians. Hezbollah and Lebanese officials point to the rising death toll, with more than 3,000 killed since October 2023, and widespread destruction in the country as evidence Israel’s fire is indiscriminate.
US diplomatic efforts to halt fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which included a 60-day ceasefire proposal, faltered last week ahead of the US election on Tuesday in which former president Trump recaptured the White House. Moussawi acknowledged the heavy toll of Israeli attacks that have blown apart thousands of buildings, mostly in Lebanon’s Shi’ite Muslim-dominated south and east and the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut. But he said the group’s military capabilities remained strong.
“Our hearts are broken - we are losing very dear lives. This feeling that (Israel) cannot be punished or brought to international justice is a result of U.S support which renders them immune to accountability,” he said.
“America is a full partner in what’s happening because they can exercise influence to stop this destruction.”
Massad Boulos, a Lebanese-American billionaire who is the father-in-law of Trump’s daughter Tiffany, said he would be Trump’s envoy in charge of negotiating with the Lebanese side to reach a deal to end the war, Lebanese broadcaster Al Jadeed quoted him as saying this week.