Herzog tells Hezbollah deputy, ‘Your day will come’

Israeli President Isaac Herzog has sent an indirect message to Hezbollah Deputy Secretary-General Naim Qassem during his visit to soldiers injured in a Hezbollah raid in Haifa. “He is wrong just like his predecessors and those who came before them,” said Herzog. “Not only is he wrong, but I presume his day will come as well.”

The Israeli president made his comment in response to a speech that Qassem made on Tuesday.

“The world must understand that we offered to reach an amicable solution on the border with Lebanon, but unfortunately Hezbollah rejected this repeatedly, and today Sheikh Naim Qassem threatened to link the situation in Lebanon to other borders,” added Herzog. “Let me tell the Lebanese people that you are paying the price of an evil terrorist regime headed by Hezbollah. Instead of living a good and dignified life in a country that was once the pride of the Middle East, you are paying the price now, and the price is getting heavier.”

He explained his belief that the pressures on Hezbollah and Iran are imminent. “The international community must confront them forcefully and demand an immediate solution and an exit from this war by securing calm and peaceful borders between us and Lebanon.”

In a recorded speech, his third since the assassination of the party’s Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah on 27 September, Qassem said: “The solution is a ceasefire, we are not speaking from a position of weakness. If the Israelis do not want that, we will continue.”

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