Hezbollah chief says won't surrender under Zionist threats
'This (Zionist) threat will not make us accept surrender,' Qassem said in a televised speech to thousands of his supporters in Beirut's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, during the Shiite Muslim religious commemoration of Ashura. Lebanese leaders who took office in the aftermath of a war between the Zionist entity and Hezbollah last year that left the Iran-backed group severely weakened have repeatedly vowed a state monopoly on bearing arms, while demanding the Zionist entity comply with a November ceasefire that sought to end the hostilities.
Qassem, who succeeded longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah after a Zionist strike killed him in September, said the group's fighters would not abandon their arms and asserted that Zionist 'aggression' must first stop. The Zionist entity has continued to strike Lebanon despite the November ceasefire, saying it is targeting Hezbollah sites and operatives and accusing Beirut of not doing enough to disarm the group. Lebanese authorities say they have been dismantling Hezbollah's military infrastructure in the south, near the Zionist border.
'Not now, not later'
Under the ceasefire, Hezbollah was to pull its fighters back north of the Litani river, some 30 km from the Zionist frontier. Zionist entity was to withdraw its troops from Lebanon, but has kept them deployed in five areas that it deemed strategic. Qassem said the Zionist entity must abide by the ceasefire agreement, 'withdraw from the occupied territories, stop its aggression... release the prisoners' detained during last year's war, and that reconstruction in Lebanon must begin. Only then 'will we be ready for the second stage, which is to discuss the national security and defense strategy' which includes the issue of group's disarmament, he added. Supporters dressed in black for Ashura marched through Beirut's southern suburbs before his speech, waving Hezbollah banners as well as the Lebanese, Palestinian and Iranian flags. Some also carried posters of the slain leader Nasrallah.
Hussein Jaber, 28, originally from south Lebanon, said the group's weapons 'can't be handed over, not now, not later. Those who think Hezbollah will turn in its arms are ignorant'. In his speech, Qassem also said his movement 'will not accept normalization... with the (Zionist) enemy', after the Zionist entity's top diplomat said his government was 'interested' in such a move. Lebanon, which is technically still at war with the Zionist entity, did not comment. Syria, also mentioned by Zionist Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, said it was 'premature' to discuss normalization.
'No pilgrims'
Shiites in other countries around the region were also marking Ashura. Iraq saw the largest commemorations on Sunday, particularly in the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala. In south Lebanon, hundreds of people participated in commemorations in Nabatiyeh, an area regularly targeted by Zionist strikes.
Local resident Ali Mazraani told AFP that there were fewer people than usual 'because of the situation in the south and the Zionist strikes that destroyed the market and several areas of the city'. In Sunni Muslim majority Syria, several hundred faithful marked Ashura under the protection of security forces at the Sayyida Zeinab shrine south of Damascus, an AFP correspondent said.
Unlike in previous years, there were no processions in the Sayyida Zeinab area, where pro-Iran groups used to be heavily entrenched before Assad's ouster. 'The Syrian state has bolstered its protection at this time,' said Jaafar Al-Amine, an official at the holy site. 'This year, there have been no pilgrims from other countries' like Iran, Iraq or Lebanon, he added. – AFP
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Kuwait Times
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Vacating the camp after a warning of a raid, 'we would usually come back two or three days later', Ajaj told AFP. Now left without a house, he echoed the sentiments of Palestinians of his parents' generation, who thought their own displacement in 1948 would also be temporary. 'The last time, we left and never returned,' he said. In Tulkarem, the Zionist army's bulldozers ploughed through the dense patchwork of narrow alleyways that had grown as Palestinian refugees settled in the area over the years. Three wide arteries of concrete now streak the side of Tulkarem camp, allowing easy access for the army. Piles of cinder blocks and concrete line the roadside like snowbanks after a plough's passage. Ajaj said the destruction had been gradual, drawn out over the course of the operation, which the army has dubbed 'Iron Wall'. 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Kuwait Times
10 hours ago
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Silent war: Defending language and identity - Dr Khalid Al-Saleh
Silent war: Defending language and identity When sirens wail in an Arab city, the streets erupt with chants, the skies fill with fury and the collective pulse of the people beats with defiance. Demonstrations surge. Banners are raised. Cries of 'Down with the aggressor!' and 'We reject oppression!' echo through the squares. It is a powerful display of unity, patriotism, and resilience — a spirit that stirs hope and pride. But beyond the visible battlegrounds lies another war — one that creeps in quietly, without sirens, without smoke and without the immediate shock of falling missiles. It is the war on culture, on identity and on the Arabic language — a war whose damage is deep and enduring, yet often goes unnoticed. Where was the public outrage when Arabic storefronts were slowly replaced with foreign signage? Who protested when English supplanted Arabic in universities and public institutions, leaving Arab students feeling like strangers in their own homelands? Where was the uproar when Arabic literature was sidelined in curricula, replaced by sterile commercial texts stripped of spirit and legacy? The truth is stark: we rise in anger for the missile, but we fall silent before the intellectual invasion. We mourn shattered walls but overlook the steady erosion of our cultural foundations. Yet culture is no mere ornament for the elite — it is the soul of a nation. It is the inner defense against defeat, the unseen strength that allows people to rise after every fall. Language, too, is not just a tool for expression — it is a repository of memory, thought, and civilization. Across the world, nations fiercely guard their languages as emblems of sovereignty. France defends its linguistic heritage against foreign influence. China embeds its language in every sphere of life. Japan teaches science exclusively in Japanese and exports its culture through every product it makes. Even the occupying Zionist entity ensures its entire academic system — from literature to medicine — is rooted in Hebrew. And yet, in much of the Arab world, the cultural front remains unguarded. Our language is sidelined. Our values are diluted. Foreign content floods our screens and curricula, bearing little regard for Arab identity or heritage. What's more alarming is that many voices from within our own societies defend this cultural erosion under the guise of progress — often with misplaced conviction or blind imitation. Perhaps the difference lies in perception. A missile ignites fear instantly, while cultural erosion is slow, subtle, and invisible — yet just as devastating. The question remains: O you who fill the squares when a building crumbles, when will you rise to defend the crumbling of language and thought? You who cry for freedom, when will you cry for intellectual independence? Protecting culture is not a nostalgic call to the past — it is a prerequisite for the future. As long as others preserve their identity and we relinquish ours, the balance will remain tilted. No nation has ever prevailed after abandoning its culture. And no future can be built on borrowed voices.
