📰 8 sources 11 articles · 27 Sep 2026, 08:45 → 20 days ago

Naim Qassem on the second anniversary of Nasrallah's assassination: freeze direct negotiations and accuses the Lebanese authority

Hezbollah marked the second anniversary of the assassination of its former secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah and Hashem Safieddine with a central ceremony at Nasrallah's mausoleum in Bir Hassan on Airport Road in Beirut's southern suburbs, amid a wide Israeli occupation of the south and pressure over the party's weapons. In his speech, Secretary-General Naim Qassem called for freezing direct negotiations with Israel and moving to indirect talks, and accused the Lebanese authority of helping the Israeli-American project and giving up elements of power.

📍 Where things stand: Naim Qassem delivered his speech at the central ceremony in the southern suburbs, calling for freezing direct negotiations with Israel and accusing the Lebanese authority of helping the Israeli-American project, amid a continuing wide Israeli occupation of the south.

⏱️ Timeline

27 Sep 2026, 08:45 Hezbollah marks the second anniversary of the assassination of its former secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah at his tomb on Airport Road, amid a wide Israeli occupation of the south and internal and external pressure over the party's weapons. Secretary-General Naim Qassem's speech is expected to test his leadership and his ability to balance clinging to the weapon, avoiding a new war and not closing the door to the state.
27 Sep 2026, 10:11 Hezbollah marked the second anniversary of the assassination of its former secretary-general Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah with a central ceremony at 4:30 p.m. at his mausoleum in Bir Hassan on Airport Road in Beirut's southern suburbs, commemorating him and Sayyed Hashem Safieddine. Since the morning, preparations and gatherings of the party's supporters took place in the southern suburbs and areas of the south with pictures and flags raised, while the Internal Security Forces took special traffic measures.
27 Sep 2026, 17:18 Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem delivered a speech on the second anniversary of the martyrdom of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, in which he addressed Sayyed Hashem Safieddine saying he will remain a landmark in the jihad path of the resistance and the resistance fighters, and addressed Nasrallah saying he departed with his body while his teachings remained, describing him as the resistance that became its symbol for the free people of the world.
27 Sep 2026, 17:52 Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem affirmed the party's continuation on the path of resistance, its support for Palestine and the liberation of the land, and said the resistance halted the Israeli aggression project despite the mobilization of 90,000 soldiers and officers. Qassem turned his opponents' question about the resistance's achievements into: what has the state done? He held the Lebanese government responsible for the high cost of living and the weak currency, and called for an end to concessions.
27 Sep 2026, 17:55 Hezbollah's secretary-general affirmed that the president of the republic has the right to negotiate but not to violate the constitution or give up Lebanon's right to sue the enemy, and accused the Lebanese authority of helping the Israeli-American project instead of confronting it, calling for an end to concessions and the freezing of direct negotiations with Israel. He noted the steadfastness of the resistance fighters in Ali al-Taher for three months, considering that holding the place is not the basis, and announced readiness for dialogue.
27 Sep 2026, 17:56 Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem called for freezing direct negotiations with Israel and moving to indirect negotiations, accusing the Lebanese authority of 'helping the Israeli-American project' and giving up elements of power all at once. He said that any future Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese areas would be the result of the resistance and the memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran, not of the negotiations.
27 Sep 2026, 18:15 Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem said the Lebanese authority 'gave up all elements of power all at once', and that the outcome of seven rounds of direct negotiation was 'below zero, not zero', accusing it of 'helping the Israeli-American project instead of confronting it', and calling for freezing direct negotiations with Israel and moving to indirect negotiations.
27 Sep 2026, 18:18 On the second anniversary of the assassination of Hezbollah's two former secretaries-general, Hassan Nasrallah and Hashem Safieddine, Naim Qassem linked any readiness for dialogue on the exclusivity of weapons to the liberation of south Lebanon and the return of its residents, accusing the Lebanese authority of helping the Israeli-American project instead of confronting it, and of being beholden to Washington and Tel Aviv.
27 Sep 2026, 19:12 Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem said in a speech marking the anniversary of Hassan Nasrallah's assassination that the resistance was victorious because it succeeded in preventing the occupation from establishing settlements in south Lebanon. He pointed to the gradual achievements of the resistance, from preventing infiltration into Lebanese territory, to preventing deep infiltration, then preventing reaching Beirut, up to preventing the establishment of Israeli settlements on Lebanese territory.
27 Sep 2026, 19:15 Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem renewed his attack on the Lebanese-Israeli negotiations during the marking of the second anniversary of the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah and Hashem Safieddine, considering that Lebanon would vanish without resistance, and holding the authority responsible for the continuation of the troubled security situation. He called for an end to concessions and a move to indirect negotiations, and criticized President Joseph Aoun, affirming that his right to negotiate does not mean violating the constitution and the Taif Agreement.

Timeline written by AI from the sources below; updated as new reports arrive.

How the sources covered it

Coverage varied between sources focused on the ceremony's proceedings and details in the southern suburbs, and sources focused on Naim Qassem's political speech: some highlighted his call to freeze direct negotiations and his accusation that the Lebanese authority helps the Israeli-American project, others highlighted his criticism of President Joseph Aoun, the constitution and the Taif Agreement, while one coverage only presented his statement that the resistance prevented the establishment of Israeli settlements in the south.

Lebanon Debate Its coverage focused on the commemoration events in the southern suburbs, the details of preparations and traffic measures, and the content of Qassem's speech addressed to Nasrallah and Safieddine, his question 'what has the state done?' and the government's responsibility for the high cost of living and the weak currency.
الجزيرة نت It opened with Secretary-General Naim Qassem's call to stop concessions and freeze direct negotiations with Israel, and his accusation that the Lebanese authority helps the Israeli-American project, and carried his statement that the president has the right to negotiate but not to violate the constitution or give up Lebanon's right to sue Israel.
Euronews.com It opened with Hezbollah's secretary-general accusing the Lebanese authority of 'helping the Israel project' and his call to freeze direct negotiations and move to indirect talks, and highlighted his statement that any future Israeli withdrawal would result from the resistance and the Washington-Tehran memorandum of understanding, not from negotiations.
آخر خبر It focused on the accusation that the Lebanese authority 'helps the Israeli-American project', and highlighted figures cited by Qassem: it 'gave up all elements of power all at once', and that the outcome of seven rounds of direct negotiation was 'below zero, not zero'.
الشرق الأوسط It highlighted Qassem's renewed attack on the Lebanese-Israeli negotiations and his criticism of President Joseph Aoun, along with his affirmation that the right to negotiate does not mean violating the constitution and the Taif Agreement, and his statement that Lebanon would vanish without resistance.
المترجم احمد المقادمة Its coverage was limited to Qassem's statement that the resistance was victorious because it prevented the occupation from establishing settlements in south Lebanon, listing the gradual achievements he cited from preventing infiltration to preventing reaching Beirut.