Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah delivered on Tuesday a televised speech, tackling the latest developments in Lebanon and the region.
He also noted that he avoided taking a stance over the abducted troops because the kidnappers have “their own mentality and calculations.”
Nasrallah stressed that everyone should support the Lebanese cabinet in addressing the case of the abducted soldiers, adding that the Arsal captives dossier is "a national cause."
He noted however that some parties have turned the case into a "substance for debate and sectarian incitement," making demands that exceed the demands of the captors themselves.
Nasrallah slammed attacks on the Syrian refugees and tit-for-tat kidnappings, saying that such acts serve the interests of the armed groups which are seeking sedition among the Lebanese people.
He also noted that anyone saying that Hezbollah has rejected the principle of negotiations “would be lying for political motives,” adding that the party never rejected the negotiations.
Hezbollah’s leader stressed that negotiations should be conducted from a position of strength, adding that all cards of strength must be put on the table before going to negotiations.
Families of the kidnapped
Lebanese troops have been on a continuous sit-in, calling for the release of their loved ones.
The al-Nusra Front released on Saturday a video depicting the execution of the Lebanese soldier Mohammad Hamieh with a bullet to the head.
The video also showed Lebanese soldier Ali al-Bazzal pleading his family to act or else he would face execution.
In the same regard, Turkey's Anatolia news agency quoted on Saturday (September 06) a commander of the Islamic State as saying that the group had executed one of the captured Lebanese Armed Forces soldiers for trying to escape.
"LAF soldier Abbas Medlej tried to escape from prison and after he attempted to open fire at IS members, we took control of the situation by slaughtering him," the Islamic State- Qalamoun branch said in a statement.
Also on August 28, the Islamic State posted photos and a video online depicting a militant beheading a blindfolded hostage who was identified as Lebanese Armed Forces Sergeant Ali al-Sayyed.
On Sunday (August 31), Lebanon's military said an al-Qaeda-linked Syrian rebel group released five members of the Lebanese security forces captured earlier in August in a cross-border raid.
The men were taken hostage when militants from Syria took over the Lebanese border town of Arsal for five days before withdrawing toward the Syrian frontier, taking with them Lebanese soldiers and policemen as hostages. The clashes were the most dangerous spillover of violence from the civil war in neighboring Syria.
The clashes flared up when Syrian gunmen deployed across the region after the Lebanese Armed Forces arrested Imad Jomaa at a checkpoint.
The detention of Imad Jomaa, the leader of the Fajr al-Islam Brigade, had caused security tension in the border town of Arsal, claiming the lives of 20 soldiers and leaving 86 others injured.
While the release of the five men provided a degree of relief, concerns remain about the troops and policemen still in captivity.
On another note,
Nasrallah said that the group opposes the US-led military intervention in Syria.
"We are against American military intervention and an international coalition in Syria, whether that (action) is against the Syrian regime or IS," Nasrallah added.
Nasrallah also said that Hezbollah is against the coalition because the US “is the mother and source of terrorism” and because it supports the Zionist state.
He also noted that the US played a role in creating the takfiri movements and it "is not in an ethical position for leading a war against terrorism."
“The side that struck Japan with nuclear bombs, committed atrocities in the Vietnam war and stood against Gaza is not ethically eligible to present itself as a fighter of terrorism,” Nasrallah explained.
He concluded by saying that the coalition aims at defending US interests, adding that the US intends to impose military bases and political choices in the region.
The United States and its Arab allies bombed
Syria for the first time on Tuesday, killing scores of Islamic State fighters and members of a separate al Qaeda-linked group, opening a new front against militants by joining Syria's three-year-old civil war.
In a remarkable sign of shifting Middle East alliances, the attacks encountered no objection - and even signs of tacit approval - from President Bashar al-Assad's Syrian government, which said Washington had notified it in advance.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates participated in or
supported the strikes against Islamic State targets. All are countries hostile to Assad but now fearful of the fighters that have emerged out of the anti-Assad rebellion they backed.