US says Hezbollah’s ceasefire call shows militant group ‘getting battered’

WASHINGTON – Hezbollah’s call for a ceasefire on Oct 8 shows the militant group is on the back foot and “getting battered”, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told a regular briefing on Oct 8.

Hezbollah’s deputy leader Naim Qassem said in a televised address on Oct 8 the Iran-backed group’s capabilities were intact and its fighters were pushing back Israeli ground incursions,

despite the “painful blows” inflicted by Israel in recent weeks.

Qassem said the group supported the efforts of Lebanon’s Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally, to secure a ceasefire, without providing further details on any conditions demanded by Hezbollah.

“For a year, you had the world calling for this ceasefire, you had Hezbollah refusing to agree to one, and now that Hezbollah is on the back foot and is getting battered, suddenly they’ve changed their tune and want a ceasefire,” Mr Miller said.

“We continue to ultimately want a diplomatic solution to this conflict,” he said.

Asked if the United States was talking to Mr Berri about efforts in Lebanon to choose a new president, Mr Miller said US officials were having conversations with different players inside Lebanon, often through intermediaries.

“Those are ongoing,” he said. “I don’t think it’s productive for me to read them out publicly.”

Israel's offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon has prompted a renewed bid by some Lebanese politicians to fill a two-year presidential vacuum, an effort to revive the paralyzed state as it grapples with an escalating conflict. REUTERS