Esmail Qaani Warns Israeli Soldiers To Withdraw From Southern Lebanon Or Face Expulsion

IRGC Quds Force commander General Esmail Qaani issued a stern warning to Israeli soldiers, telling them they faced a choice between immediate withdrawal from Lebanese territory or a humiliating expulsion that he said would recall the 2000 scenario.

“The commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Major General Esmail Qaani, threatened the Zionist enemy soldiers, reminding them with the losses they had recently suffered in South Lebanon”

Al-Manar TV Lebanon

In a message read on the 'Video News Agency,' Qaani told the Israeli soldiers that they caused the death of a hundred people in less than four days due to their ongoing aggression.

Al-Manar TV Lebanon

Kurdistan24 reported that Qaani also threatened to close the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, saying ship traffic there would be made parallel to the situation in the Hormuz Strait.

An Anadolu Ajansı report said Qaani’s statement demanded Israel withdraw from the areas it occupies in southern Lebanon, and said supporting Hezbollah is Iran’s duty.

The same Anadolu Ajansı account quoted Qaani’s framing that the “primary demand of the resistance” is Israel’s withdrawal to areas it controlled before the outbreak of the U.S.-Israel war on Iran on February 28.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem said the results of negotiations with Israel were rejected in full and in detail, adding that the resistance would continue as long as Israel remains in Lebanon.

In the same set of reporting, Qaani’s message tied Iran’s support for Hezbollah to an obligation on Iran and said the destruction of Israel is an achievable goal for Muslims.

Anadolu Ajansı

An Anadolu Ajansı account said a Lebanese-American-Israeli statement described a ceasefire agreement reached at the end of the fourth round of negotiations in Washington, with Beirut and Tel Aviv agreeing to implement a ceasefire.

That Anadolu Ajansı report also said Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem described direct negotiations with Israel as "ridiculous, humiliating, and shameful," and deemed the outcome "utterly and comprehensively rejected by broad segments of the Lebanese people."

An AFP-cited report in العربي الجديد said Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told that negotiations with the United States had not achieved any tangible progress and that contact with the American side had not been cut off.

An Anadolu Ajansı report said Israel has been waging a wide-scale aggression on Lebanon since March 2, leaving 3,516 dead and 10,674 wounded as of Wednesday, and displacing more than one million people according to official data.

“Esma'il Qa'ani, commander of the IRGC's Quds Force, threatened Israel in a message, saying that if Israeli forces do not withdraw from southern Lebanon, they will be driven out”

ANF

Against that backdrop, Qaani’s warnings linked any ceasefire to Israel’s withdrawal, with Anadolu Ajansı reporting that Iran’s acceptance of a ceasefire is conditioned on a ceasefire on all fronts, including Lebanon.

The same Anadolu Ajansı account said the IRGC stressed that peace in the region cannot be achieved without Israel’s withdrawal from the Lebanese-occupied territories.

In a separate message carried by Iran International, Qaani warned that if Israeli forces did not leave southern Lebanon on their own feet, the epic of 2000 would be repeated and that if they insisted on aggression and occupation, they would be driven out with humiliation and defeat.

Al-Manar TV Lebanon framed Qaani’s threat directly to Israeli forces by quoting him: “O Zionist aggressor soldiers, you have suffered one hundred casualties in less than four days,” and then warning that the epic of 2000 would be repeated if Israel did not withdraw.